Magical Diary Alpha/Preorder

hanako

Magical Diary Alpha/Preorder

#1 by hanako - Jan 8 2011

I'm locking this topic because it's so HUGE and largely out of date. Making a new one for beta chat.

[Topic deleted]

The game is vaguely complete but not yet completely polished, and there is no demo yet available. You can buy in now for a small discount, but at THIS point you may prefer to wait for the full release which is coming soon.

When you order, you'll get a download/installer for your OS like you would normally, as well as a license key. When you run it, go to the options menu and you'll find an Updater. Click on that, and you can check for updates and download all new patches. You will need your license key to download patches.

As you play the game, if you run into errors, you should end up on a traceback screen with several buttons. If you click 'upload traceback' then as long as you're connected to the internet, it will send us the error report so we can investigate it (and also offer you a patch, in case we've already fixed it!) You will also have the option of rolling back - backing up to before the error happened, so that you can possibly make a different choice and keep playing.

Beyond bugs, feel free to make comments about anything you'd like to see. I don't promise to act on all requests, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I can't answer questions about plot/characters/setting because many things will be explained later in the game or series. You can speculate to each other if you want, just don't expect me to tell you. If you're not sure how something works gameplay wise, though, ask away!

Okay, here we go.

Windows Preorder

Macintosh Preorder

Linux Preorder

Spazzbunny

#2 by Spazzbunny - Jan 8 2011

When I encountered an error, the rollback didn't work after I sent the bug report. I tried to send a bug report on that too, but it's hard to tell if it sent that through or the other, prior bug. So I figured I'd just post it on here too. ^^

hanako

#3 by hanako - Jan 8 2011

Did it not work at all, or did it only roll back one step? What should happen is that it backs up one step, and you can use the mouse-wheel-scroll-up to keep rolling back from there.

however depending on WHERE it breaks sometimes there's nowhere to roll back to, so it just explodes again.

Spazzbunny

#4 by Spazzbunny - Jan 8 2011

Hard to say, since I already moved on and quit from that point. ^^;; Sorry. I'll let you know if it happens again though.

Naiomi666

so

#5 by Naiomi666 - Jan 9 2011

im curious, is the script done in the game? Will we be able to get an ending? Or does it just cut off at a certain point.

hanako

#6 by hanako - Jan 9 2011

No, the script is not done and you can't get anywhere near an ending. There's over 60,000 words written but at the moment it will just stop when it hits Thanksgiving... so it's less than halfway through the year, really.

I've been taking a break from writing script for the past week and some to work on the GUI and the patcher, so that people joining now would be able to smoothly continue in the story as it progresses. As long as you save regularly you should be able to pick back up without much trouble as the new plot gets added. (run updater, load saved game, continue).

I'll make regular progress posts to let people know what weeks of in-game time have been completed, so you don't have to sit there hammering the updater waiting for new story to appear.

The next section of story I'll be working on is finding out what happened over Thanksgiving break, and the third exam.

Spiky Caterpillar

#7 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 9 2011

Spazzbunny:
When I encountered an error, the rollback didn't work after I sent the bug report. I tried to send a bug report on that too, but it's hard to tell if it sent that through or the other, prior bug. So I figured I'd just post it on here too. ^^

Thanks - if it was a crash trying to view the diary, it's been fixed (and both reports went through successfully) as of 0.2.26.

nonhoration

#8 by nonhoration - Jan 9 2011

Are you supposed to be able to entirely skip the first exam (the one where you just have to pick which colour of magic to use) if you choose "maybe it would be for the best" in the detention options when the teacher deems your magic levels too low? On my first character, I did that and was expecting the exam to be postponed, but then never actually had to do it.

hanako

#9 by hanako - Jan 9 2011

Yes, that is what's intended. I can possibly make it clearer that the issue is resolved - it's supposed to be sort of a pleasant surprise.

chensterrain

#10 by chensterrain - Jan 9 2011

(Am I the person you mentioned on your blog? Sorry for not posting earlier!

) The updater's not working for me at all, some sort of access denied thing. It might just be my computer, though - I'm running Windows 7, and half the time it won't give me the access rights I ask for, so it's probably just on my end, tbh.

Great game so far, though!

hanako

#11 by hanako - Jan 9 2011

No problem!

Yeah, I guessed it was you from the data the traceback sent, but I wanted to be sure before going after you with questions. We THINK we have a workaround for the access problem, although we're not yet sure because I don't actually have 7 myself. (Sigh. I should get it just so I can test things on it. It's always giving me headaches.)

So I'm currently uploading a new installer and once it's up I'll send you a new download link for the latest version which MIGHT work. Maybe.

If it doesn't, let us know and we'll try a few more things on our side before bugging you about it again.

hanako

#12 by hanako - Jan 10 2011

For others - if you're running Vista/7 and you have 0.2.22.5 your updater will DEFINITELY not work. If you have 0.2.30 it might or it might not, we've got reports both ways at the moment. If you have the first and want to try the second, let me know, but we are still investigating...

slowmolasses

#13 by slowmolasses - Jan 10 2011

I might have been the Vista person, because I tried last night but it wasn't working and I was going to post today to tell you about it (I guess the reports were faster

). I would be interested in trying 0.2.30 if possible.

hanako

#14 by hanako - Jan 10 2011

Hmm, if I'm tracking your order timestamp correctly I would have thought you already had that one... What version number does it say you have when you go to the updater, and what happens when you try to update?

slowmolasses

#15 by slowmolasses - Jan 11 2011

Oh... You're right. I misread it earlier. But I still can't update. It said that either my username was unknown or that I wasn't allowed to, er, not have a password. So I got a password. And then it said it was bad (it actually wouldn't let me type it in). I tried once more, just now, and it got farther than before (the game opened again and said 'updating') but then it did not. It said it couldn't and then I was returned to the title screen. Those are the various things that have happened when trying to do so, but the second one, with the 'bad password' has been the most common.

Spiky Caterpillar

Seven/Vista updater bug workaround

#16 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 11 2011

If you're using Vista or 7 and the updater crashes, you may be able to work around it by right-clicking on the game and selecting 'run as administrator' when you start the game.

hanako

#17 by hanako - Jan 11 2011

Outside of the updater, how are things working? Finding solutions to the second exam? Anyone managed to win the election?

NicoWinter

#18 by NicoWinter - Jan 11 2011

Well, I found two solutions to the second exam, and I think I know of a third one but not too sure. I tried to see how many solutions there are for the first exam and so far I only know of three, and know that one route is completely incorrect. What else...I have not been able to win the election as President but am able to as treasurer with the help of William, not sure if there is any other way to win seeing as you can only buy either the regular cupcakes and nothing else. Or buy the pins and posters but that is all. I also cannot figure out any other way to win...unless we are supposed to by the dancing....haven't tried that though. I figure that it involves a lot of steps to win as president.

hanako

#19 by hanako - Jan 11 2011

Election spoilers:

You can't win as President in this particular game - the best outcome is receiving merits from Potsdam for running a good campaign. In-game, Minnie has been working towards this all semester, and HorsePC is plain outclassed. For meta-reasons, it's just too many branches to juggle without enough reward from them. There are already a lot of plot elements that fluctuate depending on whether you're treasurer or Ellen is or someone else is. An entire Presidential plotline that most people couldn't reach isn't really worth it. But in the next game, WolfPC will be Minnie's rival and be able to beat her.

It should be possible to win treasurer without William's help, but it's much more difficult.

NicoWinter

#20 by NicoWinter - Jan 11 2011

Response to Election Spoilers:
Gotcha, I had a feeling that it wouldn't be possible and I always got points for a good campaign, have yet to try to win as treasurer without Will's help. Though I did manage to get Ellen to win.

So far I've really enjoyed the game, even the outcomes of the dungeon tests, like being able to overly succeed the first one that you impress Grabiner. Or completely failing is funny, even when you are overly good at that particular magic (ie having 30 or more stat on the first test). I have not seen yet if I am able to overly impress a teacher for the second test though...but you know have not tried all possibilities just yet.

J_Yum1978

#21 by J_Yum1978 - Jan 11 2011

This game is superb!! I love it!! So far I haven't had any problems with it and I am waiting so impatiently for the full version. Wish it can be release soon!!

Nada

#22 by Nada - Jan 11 2011

Will this still be available at the end of the month? I get paid monthly so I won't have the monies until the 30th.

hanako

#23 by hanako - Jan 11 2011

No worries, this'll be available for a good while, slowly growing more public. I'd guess we've still got a few months left at least.

Spiky Caterpillar

#24 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 12 2011

Once you've updated to 0.2.36 or higher, it should hopefully be possible to run further updates on Vista/7 machines without having to start the game as Administrator - instead, you should get a normal Vista/7 elevation prompt when you try to update.

Radhreni

#25 by Radhreni - Jan 12 2011

Not sure whether this is a bug per se, but if you put in a name long enough (perfect for those Mary Sue types!), it goes off the screen. If you keep on typing, it'll eventually go to the next line and push the entire interface down accordingly.

A shot of it in practice.

*ducks projectiles for using that name, however mangled*

What's more, yes, you can start the game with a screen-breaking name. And it has some...interesting results.

A coincidence?

I don't think this was meant to happen.

And a question, not bug or weirdness related - is 1024x768 the default resolution? I'm playing this on my desktop at that res, but I like using my netbook for older and lower-system-demands games. Would this be playable on a netbook?

hanako

#26 by hanako - Jan 12 2011

*snicker* But should we prevent people from putting in a ludicrous name just because it breaks the display?

(Hmm... Perhaps a warning popup on the character designer screen if you're doing something silly, and allowing you to insist that your character is SPECIAL and deserves to break the display if you really really want to? At the least, the wrapping on the designer could use cleaning up.)

1024x768 is default, yes. THe engine can scale (run it in windowed mode and drag the corner around to play with size-changing), so you can certainly try to run it on smaller screens, but it might run on the slow side. That's mostly a matter of whether the 3d graphics acceleration kicks in or not, so it'll depend on the sort of video card you have.

slowmolasses

#27 by slowmolasses - Jan 12 2011

Thanks for the tip Spiky Caterpillar, it did the trick. My version is now updated.

On another note, I have something I'd like clarification on. Donald is Virginia's younger brother, but they're in the same year. So I know this is possible, but then I start to wonder if birthday's will play into this. Because then Virginia was probably born September/October, maybe August... Is this so then? Do birthdays hold importance if you're from the magic side of the world?

Something else I was wondering was about the spells. Are they for the dungeons/exams only? Or is it possible to go the dungeons later? Will there be actual duels later on, using the spells?

Then again, those seem to be questions that are looking farther into the future than necessary. I'm just a naturally curious person

hanako

#28 by hanako - Jan 12 2011

Donald is the middle child; he's older than Virginia but they're in the same year. He's the younger of her two brothers but he's not her younger brother; if it accidentally said otherwise somewhere, point it out to me.

Someone does celebrate a birthday during the amount of game that's available so far...

Radhreni

#29 by Radhreni - Jan 12 2011

Ran into another quirk (and no, this one doesn't involve any ridiculously special names

): Halloween, the night of the Dark Dance, and...well, I chose the Fun! option. After the results of that, Potsdam sends me back to my room, saying it wouldn't be a good idea for me to return to the dance. However, after that -- for expedience's sake I'll spoiler-color quote the next four dialogue boxes:

She smiles and walks away.
Well... At least now I know that there really are spirits here.
I'll just have to take it on faith.
Surrounded by friends and strangers, I dance the night away.

I think the ends of both choices got garbled together there?

Aletea

#30 by Aletea - Jan 12 2011

I've just started up the game, so I don't have much to say yet - just something I noticed. At the freshman initiation, one of the other freshmen is named Suki Sato; a (relatively new) tv show called Tower Prep has a character by that name. I was just wondering if that was intentional or just a coincidence?

hanako

#31 by hanako - Jan 12 2011

... Really? Argh. How annoying.

I've heard of the show but never seen it, and my Suki was named and in development long before it aired, but I don't want to create that confusion if a lot of people are familiar with the other character... I don't know. I like the name! She's a very minor character at the moment, but if we ever get around to the game set in her Hall, of course, she's much more prominent.

Aletea

#32 by Aletea - Jan 12 2011

I'm enjoying it so far, but I have a small suggestion. The sound and brief animation next to the skill that gains points is useful, but I find that I miss what exactly was leveled up sometimes. In classes it tells you what went up, but not when it's other events. Perhaps the little symbol that appears next to the leveled up skill could last a little bit longer before going away? Usually by the time I've glanced over at the skills, it's gone, so unless I know exactly what the skill level was before it gained points, I don't know what went up.

Of course, I could be missing it if there is something that stays longer to let you know.

Muse

#33 by Muse - Jan 13 2011

Just found a little thing I wanted to make sure was intentional: Sorry for not using the tracker thing but I am unsure if this is a bug or not.

When selecting the eye color on the creating screen, if you go forward the numbers go 0-35. But if you go to 0 then go backwards, it puts all the numbers at X.9. This resets back to .0 if you g to zero and forward, but I figured I would put this in.
This is if you just use the arrows to select colors (back being the left arrow, forward being the right).

(I'm testing the Mac version, if that helps/is needed!)

Also, how exactly do we report errors that aren't game-crashing ones? For example, I believe I found an error where the art doesn't line up, but I have no idea how to send it to you.

Well, allow me to rephrase. You know how most of the art clips at the elbows etc for the character artwork beside the dialogue box? It normally doesn't clip the head, but I found a spot where it did on a character, so I thought it looked odd, and wanted to know if it was an alignment issue.

I also found a line of dialogue I felt was a bit awkward: it sort of makes it sound like one of the boys was a girl. (Or at least I am pretty sure Kyo is a guy?)

I hope reporting errors like this are fine too, and thank you for the help!

Spiky Caterpillar

#34 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 13 2011

We're interested in non-crashing bugs too. If you don't have your own webspace, you can upload screenshots and save games using http://spikycaterpillar.dreamhosters.com/savegame-upload.html (and other files - it doesn't actually do any content checks on the uploaded files yet) - and then post or email me, as the script doesn't notify me automatically when things are uploaded. Dialog weirdnesses can just be posted here (preferably in white text if they're after the first week or so).

Kyo's a guy, unless there's something Hanako hasn't told me.

And clipping/alignment problems are definitely bugs that I want to know about (as Hanako and I usually play in 4:3 windows, it's easy for us to wind up missing clipping problems that only show up in widescreen modes.)

The eye colour behaviour is semi-intentional - it's actually a range from 0 to 359 internally, wrapped at the ends, as pressing the buttons 400 times would be annoying.

Muse

#35 by Muse - Jan 13 2011

Thank you very much! I do not have my own Webspace so that is incredibly helpful. I posted the save for the first and third one, since those are the only ones I think the saves might be needed for. I have the second one if you need it.

First one should be the one with the clipping for Manuel.
Description: Here is the .save for when Manuel was clipping on the edge of his dialogue box. Most of the characters clip a little in windowed mode, but I thought his looked rather obvious due to his hair and ear clipping.

Second error I found is just some dialogue that might need to be fixed, so I will post the dialogue clip here:
"Virginia's got the ball and is dribbling it across the floor towards Ellen and the goal. Kyo cuts in to try to steal, but she sidesteps. A twist, a lunge, a swift kick, and the ball flies through the air-"
Since the second sentence begins talking about Kyo, it sounds to me like Kyo is the one who sidesteps, but it is Virginia.

Finally, there is a few suggestions I have over the second test, with the gap in the hall.

1) It’s confusing to know which way is north etc without a compass, since up on the map does not always equal north.

2) I don’t know if this can be fixed per say, or was intentional, but casting light just makes the room look washed out.

3) If you push the bridge south from where it starts, it seems to me that you should be able to see it (the bridge) when you turn around from facing north. But you don’t until you move into the next screen. I don’t know if the corner is blocking it or what, though.

4) Casting your moving spell causes the dialogue to be “You push Bridge” when I think if you could change it to “you put the bridge” it would look better.

This isn't an error, but just a thought on the game. The dialogue is really well done! I actually forgot about all the crazy fanfiction.net inspired ideas, and then realized it when I went "wait is this guy going to be totally cliche?" XD But I will admit I got a little misty eyed at a part of it regardless! Loving it so far, excellent work Hanako & Spiky!

hanako

#36 by hanako - Jan 13 2011

Exam 3 is now sort of in, although it's brand-new and thus more likely to have cracks in it.

Muse

#37 by Muse - Jan 13 2011

Also, I just ran the updater, and now I have 2 of the same intro loops of music running at the same time after it restarted. Is the updater something you plan to release or is this just a bug that can be ignored since it's a temporary feature?

Thanks!

Edit: Strike that, after the first loop finished, (the one from the preupdated game, I guess) it ended. This only happened when I upgrades to .37, it didn't happen when I upgraded to the BETA one.

Found another clipping bug, save/2 pictures are uploaded. There seems to be an issue with the mac game in windowed mode. For example, with the save I just uploaded to Spiky's uploader, Potsdam's left side (our right) clips off of the screen. However, if I go into full screen mode, then back to windowed mode, the windowed mode is back to full screen ratio, instead of the smaller one, so there is no clipping.

For the record, I went back and checked the save with the clipping Manuel, and it still appears to be clipping even after going into fullscreen (and then back).

I also have a suggestion for the tests, if it's possible. I think it would make navigation much easier if you could use the arrow keys (Up for Forward, left and right for turning). Just a minor control suggestion.

Spiky Caterpillar

#38 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 13 2011

Muse:
Also, I just ran the updater, and now I have 2 of the same intro loops of music running at the same time after it restarted. Is the updater something you plan to release or is this just a bug that can be ignored since it's a temporary feature?

The updater's slated for release, yes.

Found another clipping bug, save/2 pictures are uploaded. There seems to be an issue with the mac game in windowed mode. For example, with the save I just uploaded to Spiky's uploader, Potsdam's left side (our right) clips off of the screen. However, if I go into full screen mode, then back to windowed mode, the windowed mode is back to full screen ratio, instead of the smaller one, so there is no clipping.

For the record, I went back and checked the save with the clipping Manuel, and it still appears to be clipping even after going into fullscreen (and then back).

Ah, okay. If a character's talker sprite sticking off the edge of the window but looks OK in widescreen, that's intentional (as I need to have them over a bit to have enough room for the text) ; if they're still cut off in widescreen mode like Manuel is, then it's a bug I need to fix.

I also have a suggestion for the tests, if it's possible. I think it would make navigation much easier if you could use the arrow keys (Up for Forward, left and right for turning). Just a minor control suggestion.

Shift-up/left/right should let you move around the dungeon in the current version. (One of my Super Secret Undocumented Features

- the next version will actually mention it when you enter the dungeon. Shift's required because I need to keep the rest of the UI accessible from the keyboard as well.)

Muse

#39 by Muse - Jan 14 2011

Ah ok, thank you! However, I just want to clarify, that it appears the game has two windowed modes, one in the standard-screen-ratio that I get when I launch the game and one in a wide-screen-ratio I can only get to if I go to full screen then windowed mode after launch. Well, that was what I was trying to make you aware of in the pictures of Potsdam, anyway. I wasn't sure if this is intentional or not.

Thank you for the Shift+Arrow keys information!

hanako

#40 by hanako - Jan 14 2011

You can manually resize the window (grab and drag the corner - at least, on Windows, I assume you can do it on Mac too) to set it to whatever aspect you want, and certain GUI elements will shuffle around to try and accomodate that. This is our first attempt at doing widescreen support, see.

So there are a LOT of possible window sizes.

When the game launches, it tends to launch in the 'default' resolution (1024x768) unless it's told to do otherwise. But if you fullscreen it, it will change to what makes most sense for your monitor. And then if you go back to windowed from there, it will tend to keep a setting like it had while fullscreened, only not fullscreened anymore.

In the advanced options, there's a button to snap it back to 1024x768 if you've stretched it to something you don't like.

Also - Current build sometimes crashes when entering exam3. There's a patch coming for that, but in the meantime, save on Monday Dec 2 before choosing your schedule. If it crashes, choose a different schedule. This seems to jiggle the random number generator and allow you to get a non-crash result.

Muse

#41 by Muse - Jan 14 2011

hanako:
You can manually resize the window (grab and drag the corner - at least, on Windows, I assume you can do it on Mac too) to set it to whatever aspect you want, and certain GUI elements will shuffle around to try and accomodate that. This is our first attempt at doing widescreen support, see. So there are a LOT of possible window sizes.

When the game launches, it tends to launch in the 'default' resolution (1024x768) unless it's told to do otherwise. But if you fullscreen it, it will change to what makes most sense for your monitor. And then if you go back to windowed from there, it will tend to keep a setting like it had while fullscreened, only not fullscreened anymore.

In the advanced options, there's a button to snap it back to 1024x768 if you've stretched it to something you don't like.

Oh I see. That makes sense. XD Just one more question, there isn't a way to get it to be the 1229x768 by default when launching in windowed mode instead of 1024x768, right?

Sorry for all of the questions and thank you!

hanako

#42 by hanako - Jan 14 2011

Questions are good, ask questions!

I don't think there's a way to adjust that default at the moment, but there might be eventually...

Muse

#43 by Muse - Jan 14 2011

hanako:
Questions are good, ask questions!

I don't think there's a way to adjust that default at the moment, but there might be eventually...

Sounds good! Thank you very much!

Naiomi666

yay!

#44 by Naiomi666 - Jan 14 2011

I gotta say that professor Grabiner and the whole invisible spanking thing was pretty hot. Especially because i wasn't expecting it. I wish that there was a romance with him or in the future you would consider making him one in another game.

Muse

Re: yay!

#45 by Muse - Jan 14 2011

Naiomi666:
I gotta say that professor Grabiner and the whole invisible spanking thing was pretty hot. Especially because i wasn't expecting it. I wish that there was a romance with him or in the future you would consider making him one in another game.

I'm actually curious who all will be datable in this game once it's out. The blog talked about, back during the conceptish intro stage, ideas stemming from everything fanfic inspired from how a crazy girl can cast fireball spells to get the eye of her teacher to cargoship crackfics.

So I agree; if he's wooable I will be quite happy. But for now, I'm just glad of the promise of wooable people in either gender.

On a side note, I love the girl who runs for president, who talks about caterpillars turning into lizards and spirits. XD

Now then, time to do a delinquent run and see just how mad I can make old Grabby!

Edit: I noticed a problem with the long name warming. Every time you make a minor change, IE if you put a long name in the game, and then try to change the hair, eye color, hair color, etc, each and every single time it brings up the "Change it" or "I am KEEPING IT!" dialogue.

Edit 2: Found another clipping line up on one of Ellen's dialogue sections. Save file & picture were submitted.

Edit 3: Got another bug going into the latest dungeon, sent the track back info, but I wanted to post that after it the background except the main windows was all grey checkerboard pattern, then the regular purple background loaded but no text was there. Just thought I'd add that.

Edit 4: Also got a question on my latest playthrough. Is it possible to get the "I'm-sorry-but-I-have-detention-bye" story arc, and get Damien not to hate you forever due to the mix up? Just curious if that was one of the "you'll likely know it if you make them leave you alone for the rest of the game" moments, or not quite. If you can't/don't wish to say say I fully understand though! (It was just so cute and then so woah ragequit! XD)

hanako

#46 by hanako - Jan 14 2011

spoilery:

What should happen is that if you have detention but rush over to tell him about it before the detention, he comes around on Sunday and is fairly understanding, but if you don't tell him, then when you next see him he has a hissy-fit. However, if you have detention and beg your way out of the date because of it, but are also Treasurer and therefore miss his attempt at rescheduling for the next week, there's no way to avoid him blowing up.

If you're doing the "I'm SORRY!" routine and then having him be mad immediately on the following day, something's gone wrong...

Muse

#47 by Muse - Jan 14 2011

hanako:
spoilery:

What should happen is that if you have detention but rush over to tell him about it before the detention, he comes around on Sunday and is fairly understanding, but if you don't tell him, then when you next see him he has a hissy-fit. However, if you have detention and beg your way out of the date because of it, but are also Treasurer and therefore miss his attempt at rescheduling for the next week, there's no way to avoid him blowing up.

If you're doing the "I'm SORRY!" routine and then having him be mad immediately on the following day, something's gone wrong...

What happened was I did the I'm sorry because I had detention. Then he came and did the shouting and rescheduling thing, after that it sent me straight to the mall and then I had a scene where my character stayed out too late, and my roommate forgot to tell her something about Damien, so then apparently I stood him up.

I wasn't Treasurer, however. If I attach a save that saved after that stuff, can you go back and see what I did or do I need to recreate it and put a save before it somewhere?

deb44

#48 by deb44 - Jan 15 2011

i get to dec. 4 and then i get XXX not written beyond here

Spazzbunny

#49 by Spazzbunny - Jan 15 2011

Hmm, I seem to have run across a bit of an interesting situation. Not sure how to report it, so I suppose I'll just describe it here.

I keep getting sent back to the opening page. It's quite bothersome.
I passed the third test and went back to the room and had the conversation with Ellen. No matter which of the three options I picked, a few lines later I ended up at the title screen. There's no error message, I just get sent there without warning.
Also, if it helps, I'm not the treasurer, and I've hit mostly Damien's events.

EDIT: It also happens if I fail the exam. Right now, it just seems like I'm stuck.
EDIT2: I tried to get a few other variables, namely interacting with diffferent characters and the like, but nothing seemed to work.

On an unrelated side note, it's not an error, but I find it weird that, even if I wear a tiara, Damien still says that I should try wearing a hair ornament sometime. Seemed awkward to me.

deb44

#50 by deb44 - Jan 15 2011

[quote="Spazzbunny"]Hmm, I seem to have run across a bit of an interesting situation. Not sure how to report it, so I suppose I'll just describe it here.

I keep getting sent back to the opening page. It's quite bothersome.
I passed the third test and went back to the room and had the conversation with Ellen. No matter which of the three options I picked, a few lines later I ended up at the title screen. There's no error message, I just get sent there without warning.
Also, if it helps, I'm not the treasurer, and I've hit mostly Damien's events.

EDIT: It also happens if I fail the exam. Right now, it just seems like I'm stuck.

i am getting this also

hanako

#51 by hanako - Jan 15 2011

then i get XXX not written beyond here

that would be because there's no more game written yet!!

The game is, currently, only written up to just past the third exam. It will simply stop because it has nowhere else to go. More is obviously coming, it's just not there yet!

If I attach a save that saved after that stuff, can you go back and see what I did or do I need to recreate it and put a save before it somewhere?

That's enough description for me to test it and see if we can find the problem, so we shouldn't need a save for now. EDIT: Should be patched.

Spazzbunny

#52 by Spazzbunny - Jan 16 2011

All right. ^^ I had just been expecting to get another message about it not being written beyond that point, instead of it just stopping. Can't wait for the next installment!

hanako

#53 by hanako - Jan 16 2011

Yeah, sometimes we stick in notes to try and warn you it's about to end, but not always, since we have to remove those notes every time we add more so they're slightly annoying to keep track of.

At the moment I'm working on events related to a certain group that may or may not have talked to some characters around Dec 4...

deb44

#54 by deb44 - Jan 16 2011

i love playing this game

. it's soooo funny in some places. i don't even care that isn't done yet. i keep starting over and replaying it

hanako

#55 by hanako - Jan 17 2011

Now runs up to detention on Dec 7th.

Naiomi666

help

#56 by Naiomi666 - Jan 17 2011

Great game! I think i will need to go on a hiatus though. That way when i come back there will be more stuff!

I really do hope that you include lots of endings discussing what happens after that year. it's so much fun and it makes it replayable.

deb44

#57 by deb44 - Jan 17 2011

anyone know if it is possible to get detention on the day you have sell the candles? i haven't gotten it yet on any playthrough

Muse

#58 by Muse - Jan 17 2011

deb44:
anyone know if it is possible to get detention on the day you have sell the candles? i haven't gotten it yet on any playthrough

I can't remember for sure, but I don't think I was able to. I seemed to get it every other weekish. I'm still having trouble trying to find that spanking line in one of the detentions too.

a_crow

#59 by a_crow - Jan 17 2011

hrrrm. I preordered the thing and the order went through but the site 404'd instead of giving me a download link or something. Help? But I've definitely paid (I checked my account balance and everything).

hanako

#60 by hanako - Jan 17 2011

a_crow:
hrrrm. I preordered the thing and the order went through but the site 404'd instead of giving me a download link or something. Help? But I've definitely paid (I checked my account balance and everything).

Which site 404'ed? I see a recent order email, so assuming that's you, it should have gone into the system and you should receive an email. Check your email?

If you don't see anything, come back and give me more information. At what point did you get an error?

a_crow

#61 by a_crow - Jan 17 2011

Gah, I'm stupid. It sent it to the email for the card when I thought it would go to the email I used for this forum... I need some sleep.

a_crow

#62 by a_crow - Jan 17 2011

I just finished my first play through up to the XXX part (unfortunately that name is misleading). It was really good! I actually felt like stuff I did actually mattered and/or effected what was going on (which is sadly absent in other life-management and/or Visual Novels I've played).

My only slight complaint was that the girls seemed remarkably open to same-sex relationships for someone their age (Ellen seemed more concerned that I was her roommate). I guess if I were to use TvTropes' terms I'd say the game falls into the Everyone is Bi realm. I'm just saying that at that age a lot of people are beginning to make decisions about their sexuality, and frankly, many of them might not have even considered the fact that they might be gay or bisexual. Of course, I'm no expert, and rewriting large portions of dialog would be taxing to say the least. So feel free to disregard this suggestion entirely.

P.S. Sorry for double posting

Radhreni

#63 by Radhreni - Jan 17 2011

Actually, unless I haven't uncovered some hidden dialogue to the contrary, I'm pretty sure Virginia falls into a different trope entirely. Asexuals, yay!

I've made a couple other characters to explore some of the paths not taken with the first one (and see if I encounter any breakages), and I have to say...each time I get to the Initiation it's more and more disturbing. (Note: what follows are my opinions and perceptions, and there may be content planned or implemented that I haven't seen yet that addresses these concerns.)

On the one hand, I found the second time through that you can skip it. On the other hand, when you find Potsdam, she damns your actions with faint praise by telling you point blank that you won't have as many friends because you didn't go through the ritualized bullying. At least your roomies give you a break...eventually. Oh, and you don't get the stress reduction from the party at the end of the week, either. So go through the bullying and get rewarded...don't, and get (abstractly) penalized. Yay?

And are there really no seniors who refuse to take part? Where are they? I'd think the MC would be more likely to run into them during her week alone, and have an opportunity to strike a rapport with them. If the tradition is so thoroughly entrenched that none of them question it...holy crap, it sounds like brainwashing >.<

I think what seals it for me, though, is when the MC writes her letter home, if you do go through the initiation she balks at writing about it because her parents might think it was bullying. That's because it is. Pure and simple. Creepy with a capital C-R-E-E-P-Y.

hanako

#64 by hanako - Jan 17 2011

spoilery!

Potsdam's speech is supposed to be telling the player that they've just lost Damien's route. If you make this choice you cannot pursue Damien, and I want that to be obvious quickly so that you can still roll back and go the other way if that's not what you meant to have happen.

The abstract penalty was not intentional; I can add something to the non-party event to balance it better. The rest - no comment!

Radhreni

#65 by Radhreni - Jan 17 2011

That's reassuring! Sorry for the rantiness, but the whole situation had been bothering me for a while and so it all came out at once.

Riviera

#66 by Riviera - Jan 18 2011

Latest patch, playing on windows XP professional, windowed mode. Have the game playing on 1440 x 900 resolution.

Every time a full screen transition happens a vertical stripe appears in it that shows the background behind it. Almost looks like the background color bleeds into it. It's a little to the left of the center of the screen, and doesn't go away until after the transition is over.

I went to fullscreen mode and the transitions went fine, no stripe.

a_crow

#67 by a_crow - Jan 18 2011

Radhreni:
Actually, unless I haven't uncovered some hidden dialogue to the contrary, I'm pretty sure Virginia falls into a different trope entirely. Asexuals, yay!

Well damn, I guess I should have tried a few more runthroughs before opening my big mouth.

Spiky Caterpillar

#68 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 18 2011

Riviera:
Latest patch, playing on windows XP professional, windowed mode. Have the game playing on 1440 x 900 resolution.

Every time a full screen transition happens a vertical stripe appears in it that shows the background behind it. Almost looks like the background color bleeds into it. It's a little to the left of the center of the screen, and doesn't go away until after the transition is over.

I went to fullscreen mode and the transitions went fine, no stripe.

Can you get a screenshot of it and upload to http://spikycaterpillar.dreamhosters.com/savegame-upload.html , along with the opengl.txt file (should be in the same directory as the game exe)? Was it OK with older versions? (And which version is it? I've had three alpha patches briefly up today.)

deb44

#69 by deb44 - Jan 18 2011

okay it's officail i have have a crush on professor Grabiner

Naiomi666

#70 by Naiomi666 - Jan 18 2011

[quote="deb44"]okay it's officail i have have a crush on professor Grabiner

[/quote]

Me too!

a_crow

#71 by a_crow - Jan 18 2011

Enjoy having a crush on Dr... I mean Mr. House.

deb44

#72 by deb44 - Jan 19 2011

just played it again, i guess having alot of demerits is not a good idea

found typo, nothing big, when i went ask professor Grabiner about the dark dance funds thing, he says: so are you not capable of takin this simple action you own?

just thought i would point it out

hanako

#73 by hanako - Jan 20 2011

(Good catch! Missing letter fixed.)

Plot now runs up to Dec 14. (naturally, how much happens in that week depends on a lot of things!)

Riviera

#74 by Riviera - Jan 20 2011

Question~ Is there a way to earn money? I've been brown-nosing like mad and getting a lot of credits, but haven't figured out a way to earn money yet.

Spiky Caterpillar:
Riviera:
Latest patch, playing on windows XP professional, windowed mode. Have the game playing on 1440 x 900 resolution.

Every time a full screen transition happens a vertical stripe appears in it that shows the background behind it. Almost looks like the background color bleeds into it. It's a little to the left of the center of the screen, and doesn't go away until after the transition is over.

I went to fullscreen mode and the transitions went fine, no stripe.
Can you get a screenshot of it and upload to http://spikycaterpillar.dreamhosters.com/savegame-upload.html , along with the opengl.txt file (should be in the same directory as the game exe)? Was it OK with older versions? (And which version is it? I've had three alpha patches briefly up today.)

Sorry, I reset my computer afterwards and haven't been able to reproduce it since. It was alpha 0.2.59.3 though!

Maybe it was an error on my end?

Although... now, I'm getting an event with Damien, where you play flowerstones? After the event, when it goes back to the menu.. I look at my spellbook (or inventory or diary), then close out. It immediately restarts the whole event again. It's looping. I'm not sure what to send.. if you can tell me how to send save-games, I made one right before I got the event for the first time. If I hit next week instead, it goes on like normal. This is on version 0.2.69.3.

It seems to leave some graphical... stuff too.

When closing out of diary: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/diary.png

When closing out of inventory: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/inventory.png

Spiky Caterpillar

#75 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 20 2011

Ah, so THAT'S what was causing the flowerstones event to repeat. (I was calling it inside the menu, and not checking to see if it had already been called - oops.)

Flowerstones should no longer repeat in 0.2.69.4. I'm not sure what was causing the vertical bars during transitions - I suspect something's using a stale GL texture somewhere, though, and 0.2.60 changed the way window sizing was determined, which could hide texture bugs.

If you run into anything else that needs savegames, you can send them to http://spikycaterpillar.dreamhosters.com/savegame-upload.html .

In the game so far, there's one point where you can borrow money if you're out, but there's no non-allowance way to earn it.

Muse

#76 by Muse - Jan 20 2011

I hope this is okay to ask, but I've been trying to get a specific event an unable to. I wanted to get the one with the can't you just spank me? line in it (partly because I want to check as many paths as possible and partly because I want to see it) so I was wondering if I could get a tip on it. If you prefer your testers to go in blind though, I understand.

I've been spamming detentions like mad but I only seem to be able to get in trouble on the wrong days.

I also found a small graphic bug and got a controls related question

The graphic bug is when in full screen, on the right hand side there is the top of a little grey box over the game controls but it cuts off.

The question is if you can switch to other running programs on a mac while this game is running: I tried the usual command+tab (and alt+command+tab too) but wasn't able to, so to take the screenshot I had to set my program on a delayed timer. A lot of games override that command anyway, but I was just curious if there was a way to switch out of it without closing the game down entirely, to check other programs.
(Uploaded a picture for reference, should be called MacFullScreenCutOffBox.jpg.)

hanako

#77 by hanako - Jan 20 2011

spoilery:

Iirc that's one of the detentions that can only be reached by taking dangerous actions during a dungeon exam.

deb44

#78 by deb44 - Jan 20 2011

i love that option! i ALWAYS have to get it when i play

Muse

#79 by Muse - Jan 20 2011

Thank you very much!

Now to see what trouble I can cause!

Woo! Got the scene!

Edit: Also I may have found a typo. Not entirely sure, but the dialogue talking to Ellen about the Dark Dance:
Mary Sue: Oh! Are you going to ask William?
Ellen: Um...
Mary sue: You are, aren't you.

I'm wondering if it should be "You are, aren't you?" I've seen both periods and question marks used for rhetorical questions (never really learned which was technically correct) but I figured I would mention it in case it is a typo instead of intentional.

Edit 2: In the dungeon after Thanksgiving, I noticed that when you examine the walls, it says "They're exactly what they seem to be." but when you examine the floor, it says, "You examine the Floor. It's exactly what it seems to be." So basically one dialogue mentions the examining part, and the other doesn't. Didn't think to check the first dungeon sadly, I'll try to do so later. (Also, same as the bridge/Bridge, I don't know if you want Floor capitalized or not.)

Edit 3: If I did NOT participate in the Freshman Initiation, I should not be able to get any events with Damien, right? I got one with the Flower Stones. Submitted the save file, just in case.

Spazzbunny

#80 by Spazzbunny - Jan 21 2011

So after getting a scolding, I've been a bit curious about something. What exactly constitues, "luck?" Is it a state that you can raise, or is it literally just the luck of the draw?

hanako

#81 by hanako - Jan 21 2011

If you mean what I think you mean, there is an extremely slim chance of the random number generator ruling in your favor and you just plain being lucky, but like in real life, you can waste a huge amount of time and money trying to achieve that lucky result.

There's also a reliable way to achieve the same goal, but it requires figuring out a bunch of other character interactions and talking to just the right person at just the right time... or waiting until someone figures it out and posts instructions.

Spazzbunny

#82 by Spazzbunny - Jan 21 2011

That's what I meant, thank you. ^^

I feel like I at least got the first step right for getting that reliable result. Maybe when the game is finished and I have the full amount of time to do it, I'll dedicate a game to figuring it all out. As it is I'm already working on a little chart to keep track of the different possible character events that occur during the weeks depending on the class you pick, and how those events relate to later interactions. Maybe I'll run across a few of those events while I plow through that.

Naiomi666

question

#83 by Naiomi666 - Jan 22 2011

i was wondering if weird and cute stats had a lot to do with the outcome of events or relationships with people?

[/url]

hanako

#84 by hanako - Jan 22 2011

You gain Weird or Cute by doing something that other people think is weird or cute, so it shows up in unexpected places. I expect I'm going to need to go back and rebalance weird/cute later in development. (adding more events where you can get them, changing the default amounts you receive, etc)

So basically that whole area is likely to change later on.

As for what they actually do - not much, yet. at the moment it's really just personal gratification for knowing that your character is weird or cute. There will be some places later in some plot arcs where they may matter.

Riviera

#85 by Riviera - Jan 22 2011

Ahhh, good to know. I never asked (and should have), but I'd been wondering that myself. I mean, I got lots of chances to raise smarts and strength, but only raised my cute/weird about two times.

I'd actually figured it was going to be pretty much tied to the items. I've been lusting after those fairy wings. They will be mine. My character is going to end up doing something like setting up a "Will kick Donald for 5 coins" stand to make money. Virginia would like that but would end up broke.

Oh, when you cast Inscription you can't use the letter A because it's a shortcut for autoplay.

... am I the only one that graffiti'd up the exam room and found that out?

Naiomi666

another question

#86 by Naiomi666 - Jan 22 2011

i was wondering if anyone's game crashed when you picked the color of the card that you want?

Riviera

#87 by Riviera - Jan 22 2011

When I cast push object on the rocks in the second exam, it makes this weird black box effect along with the regular one:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/spell.png

It doesn't matter which direction I push them in.

I'm on patch 0.2.71.1.

Also... when Virginia gives (your) gift to Donald, she says:

<playername> helped me pick.

Shouldn't she say: <playername> helped me pick it out.

Instead?

Also when the Prof mentions the selling candles/selling tickets part of the Treasurer's duties, he says "embarass." It should be "embarrass."

nelly247

#88 by nelly247 - Jan 22 2011

hey Naiomi my game also crashes after picking the card colour, i guess that path hasn't been finished.

Riviera

#89 by Riviera - Jan 22 2011

Weird... I picked a card color (green) and decoration (sparkles and unicorns) and gave it to Ellen and it went fine.

What patch do you guys have? What color did you pick?

nelly247

#90 by nelly247 - Jan 22 2011

im using 0.2.71.1 and ive tried all the colour options

hanako

#91 by hanako - Jan 22 2011

If you're getting a crash there it's almost certainly because you have a savegame from a particular patch before the Secret Santa event was written in - the event was added to a Wednesday but it was possible, if you were constantly getting the latest version, to have gone past that wednesday and saved after it, BEFORE I put the event in.

So it's crashing because it's checking to see who you were assigned, but you weren't assigned anyone because you skipped that event.

Back up to a game with a date before December 11th so that you get the Secret Santa event and it'll work.

nelly247

#92 by nelly247 - Jan 22 2011

oh thank you so much hanako, i was starting to think i had broken the game

lol

Riviera

#93 by Riviera - Jan 22 2011

*sigh*

Transition weirdness strikes again.

Pics this time.

Left the cafe from the "date" with Damien, these showed up in the transition from there back to school.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/1.png

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/2.png

To the bedroom from the hallway:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/3.png

It did the same thing when I got to the duel with Donald and he cast his spell.

During the... "missing bra" event: <player>: Maybe it got loose in the laundry? (Shouldn't it be "maybe it got lost in the laundry?")

0.2.71.1

Oh! A suggestion! It'd be really, really nice if there was a way to hotkey spells during exams somehow... like have a little bar underneath the menu on the left, or on the bottom of the screen. It gets kind of annoying to have to open up the spellbook, find the spell and click it 10 times in a row or so for some of the solutions.

Spiky Caterpillar

#94 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 22 2011

Can you upload the contents of your opengl.txt file?

hanako

#95 by hanako - Jan 22 2011

Riviera:
During the... "missing bra" event: <player>: Maybe it got loose in the laundry? (Shouldn't it be "maybe it got lost in the laundry?")

No, because that's a totally different sentence and not what she said. If it briefly confused your eye and made you think that the bra tore loose from her grasp and ran away yapping like a wild dog, good.

Most of the time, unusual wording in dialog is representing the imprecision of on-the-spot speech. like 'pick' vs 'pick it out' - that's not a mistake, that's just the way she's talking. If the wording is confusing enough that you can't understand what's meant, or there's a typo or spelling mistake, that's different and does need reporting.

(Alternately, if Virginia or the player says something in a way that no Northerner ever would, then okay, tell me, as I'm Southern myself.)

Riviera

#96 by Riviera - Jan 22 2011

Ahhh, okay.

I like that image!

hanako

#97 by hanako - Jan 22 2011

Things are now somewhat playable up to Christmas break, although I may come back and add more to the chorale concert at some point. (Also the 'a' in inscriptions works now, I think.)

There is likely to be a development break here for a bit. As you may guess from the final Christmas event, things are going to change slightly in the 'new year', and there's the next dungeon to plan, AND I'm going away from the computer for about a week starting Wednesday.

I've completely overhauled the Cute and Weird points, so now in most places where you got 1 before you now get 5. If you want proper Cute/Weird totals you'll need to start over, sorry. This is for balancing reasons to get a good spread of points in characters now that half the year is complete.

Spiky Caterpillar

#98 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 22 2011

Muse:
The question is if you can switch to other running programs on a mac while this game is running: I tried the usual command+tab (and alt+command+tab too) but wasn't able to, so to take the screenshot I had to set my program on a delayed timer. A lot of games override that command anyway, but I was just curious if there was a way to switch out of it without closing the game down entirely, to check other programs.
(Uploaded a picture for reference, should be called MacFullScreenCutOffBox.jpg.)

I plan to fix command-tab, but haven't gotten to it yet. In the meantime, does option-tab or alt-tab work?

You can also take screenshots by pressing 'S' ingame - they will be dropped as .pngs in the game directory.

deb44

#99 by deb44 - Jan 23 2011

i found a couple of problems. I have the lastest patch and i did not get detention after failing the 3rd test even though i was supposed to get it and Donald doesn't show up in the game window when he asks me to go outside. i did try unistalling it and reinstalling it but that did not help

Riviera

#100 by Riviera - Jan 23 2011

No problem, I don't need an excuse to reroll a new character.

Go ahead and take a break, my god you guys have been working like crazy things on this game.. it's frankly been amazing how much has been added to it just since I started playing!

Both my characters so far have names starting with an A, so they'll be very happy that they can now graffiti to their heart's content. Well, one will, the other one is too goody-goody to do that.

*Walls begin to be covered with "Alicia wuz heer"*

Gad, I never knew about the screenshot shortcut. I've been printscreen-paste in paint-crop'ing all of those. *headdesk*

hanako

#101 by hanako - Jan 23 2011

deb44:
i found a couple of problems. I have the lastest patch and i did not get detention after failing the 3rd test even though i was supposed to get it and Donald doesn't show up in the game window when he asks me to go outside. i did try unistalling it and reinstalling it but that did not help

You shouldn't get detention for failing (by surrender) the third test, it was a mistake that it was happening before. Just failing a test isn't enough for detention, you need to have _really_ done something stupid.

I'll have to check on the donald problem, though.

Spazzbunny

#102 by Spazzbunny - Jan 23 2011

So, quick question folks: Am I the only one who wishes there was more of Luke? He's just so cute!

Riviera

#103 by Riviera - Jan 23 2011

Spazzbunny:
So, quick question folks: Am I the only one who wishes there was more of Luke? He's just so cute!

I don't think so! I was hoping to see more of Kyo, too!

I hit the gym for ages hoping I'd find out what happened after that one event with him.. but no luck.

Spazzbunny

#104 by Spazzbunny - Jan 23 2011

Kay! Just checking. Kyo's pretty cute too, but I like Luke better. I'm also perfectly willing to start a legally ambigious betting pool as to what sort of not-human type creature he is. >;D

miko1047

#105 by miko1047 - Jan 23 2011

i'm curious, do we just have to pay once (when we preorder it) or do we have to pay for each update?

hanako

#106 by hanako - Jan 23 2011

The updates are free - if you buy at the preorder rate you'll get the whole Horse Hall game eventually.

If this game is successful there will be further games in the series and those will be sold separately. Each one will be based around a PC in a different hall and focus on a different group of main characters - Luke and his brother Logan will have their story, but not yet!

Riviera

#107 by Riviera - Jan 23 2011

I'm thinking "not yet" means "not in this game"... I'd try the good ole puppy eyes trick but I do not think it'd work. Ah, well.

Although... with how he's in the connection ceremony... I wonder if you can go after ole Prof. Grabby. That's both intriguing and disturbing. I'll probably try it.

Spazzbunny:
Kay! Just checking. Kyo's pretty cute too, but I like Luke better. I'm also perfectly willing to start a legally ambigious betting pool as to what sort of not-human type creature he is. >;D

I want to say some kind of water species because of his hair color..

I bet.. uhhh.. this box I got from my roommate's brother.

deb44

#108 by deb44 - Jan 23 2011

Riviera:
I'm thinking "not yet" means "not in this game"... I'd try the good ole puppy eyes trick but I do not think it'd work. Ah, well.

Although... with how he's in the connection ceremony... I wonder if you can go after ole Prof. Grabby. That's both intriguing and disturbing. I'll probably try it.

Spazzbunny:
Kay! Just checking. Kyo's pretty cute too, but I like Luke better. I'm also perfectly willing to start a legally ambigious betting pool as to what sort of not-human type creature he is. >;D
I want to say some kind of water species because of his hair color..

I bet.. uhhh.. this box I got from my roommate's brother.

if you can go after Prof. Grabby, i would love that

Spazzbunny

#109 by Spazzbunny - Jan 23 2011

Well, as long as there is a chance of him being around more later, I'm good. ^~^
xD That will do nicely! I'll put down my own mysterious box on the odds that he might be a merman-sort-of-thing. Evidence? Hair color and the extra heat protection that he needs.

Hmm, I guess being with Prof. Grabby could be cool. I dunno. I've never been one for those teacherxstudent or wayolderxyounger relationships. I never fangirled over Snape either, haha!

Riviera

#110 by Riviera - Jan 23 2011

Spazzbunny:
Well, as long as there is a chance of him being around more later, I'm good. ^~^
xD That will do nicely! I'll put down my own mysterious box on the odds that he might be a merman-sort-of-thing. Evidence? Hair color and the extra heat protection that he needs.

Hmm, I guess being with Prof. Grabby could be cool. I dunno. I've never been one for those teacherxstudent or wayolderxyounger relationships. I never fangirled over Snape either, haha!

*highfive* Neither of us fangirled over Snape, and both of us like these little side-guys.

I wanted to say merman... but... he could just be a generic can-breathe-in-water type guy that sprouts fins and gills when he gets wet. Oooo! Pity there is no option to throw a bucket of water at him in-game. If I had The Power of Art I would totally draw that happening. That and the D-hug.

OnTopic> I really liked the new event at the end. I could check my relationship levels in a way that wasn't immersion breaking, plus it was kinda touching and sweet. Was also kind of amused to see that one of my characters that I'd thought was getting along with everyone, actually had no one that would connect with her at the end. Shunned!

Spazzbunny

#111 by Spazzbunny - Jan 24 2011

-highfive back- Yeah!

True, I suppose. ^^ Though, I definitely have a love of all things mermaid-related from when I was a little kid, so I'm rooting for that.
Luke seems to avoid getting a lot of things: wet, dirty, cold, etc. xD And I loved the hug! >///< He's too cute! Though, our little fairy friend kinda creeped me out with that scene....

Could it be that mybe you just never committed to anyone's path? I know a lot of games where if you are friendly to everyone without being with one specific person more, you end up not setting yourself toward any endings.

deb44

#112 by deb44 - Jan 24 2011

i just wish there was a way to sell the candles and keep Daimen from getting mad at me. lol oh well

jyrayos

help

#113 by jyrayos - Jan 24 2011

I am using a pc computer with windows 7 and it is not letting open the game. Every time I click on the game to open, it starts the game but it closes the game automatically. I am not sure what to do.

hanako

#114 by hanako - Jan 24 2011

The game, or the installer? Once in a while if you're unlucky, the installer fails to download correctly, which could make it do nothing when launched, and in that case I'd need to get you a new download. if it's the actual game I'll have different questions to ask!

jyrayos

#115 by jyrayos - Jan 24 2011

I believe it is the installer I am not to sure. I follow the instructions, I downloaded the game through the link but it tries to open the game it just ends up closing the game.

hanako

#116 by hanako - Jan 24 2011

What's the name of the file you're clicking on that keeps closing?

Spiky Caterpillar

#117 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 24 2011

I am using a pc computer with windows 7 and it is not letting open the game. Every time I click on the game to open, it starts the game but it closes the game automatically. I am not sure what to do.

If the game is bringing up a text window complaining that you have a 'subsurface rectangle outside surface area', check your display settings to make sure your screen is set to 'True Color (32 bit)' - the game will crash on some screens if run in 16-bit or 256 color mode.

jyrayos

#118 by jyrayos - Jan 24 2011

No, there is no text box mentioning anything wrong. Simply, the program just closes. The file I am using is Magical Diary -horse hall and this the following link that was given to me to download:

[Don't post download links! They'll only work once anyway, but they contain private user info.]

hanako

#119 by hanako - Jan 24 2011

Okay, so if it has the horse hall name then it's not the installer.

What sort of computer are you using? Laptop? Desktop? Netbook?

What is your screen resolution?

Do you see any text files in your game directory? possibly one called traceback or one called opengl?

jyrayos

#120 by jyrayos - Jan 24 2011

hanako:
Okay, so if it has the horse hall name then it's not the installer.

What sort of computer are you using? Laptop? Desktop? Netbook?

What is your screen resolution?

Do you see any text files in your game directory? possibly one called traceback or one called opengl?

I am using a laptop and 32 bit True color. It does not take to anything the game closes before it fully opens.

Spiky Caterpillar

#121 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 24 2011

Search for a text file called 'traceback.txt' or 'opengl.txt' (it should be in your Magical Diary directory) and post the contents.

What screen size (in pixels) are you using?

Riviera

#122 by Riviera - Jan 24 2011

Oh! Before I forget:

I saw your tweet, hanako! It's really cool you're considering putting the spell hotkeys in! *too lazy to sign into twitter*

To be honest, when I suggested it, I was thinking more of just being able to put one spell per type in an assigned slot. It'd probably be less work.

I was also thinking more long-term (something that could work throughout the series) and from a perspective of not knowing how many dungeons would be in this or the rest of the games.

Spazzbunny:
-highfive back- Yeah!

True, I suppose. ^^ Though, I definitely have a love of all things mermaid-related from when I was a little kid, so I'm rooting for that.
Luke seems to avoid getting a lot of things: wet, dirty, cold, etc. xD And I loved the hug! >///< He's too cute! Though, our little fairy friend kinda creeped me out with that scene....

Lol, I was actually thinking of Damien's scene! But you're right, Luke was adorable during his, too! Haha, Pastel. You randy fairy, you.

Could it be that mybe you just never committed to anyone's path? I know a lot of games where if you are friendly to everyone without being with one specific person more, you end up not setting yourself toward any endings.

I think it was more a matter of me not realizing how badly they took the screw ups I did make. I wanted magic in the sports game, I picked on Ellen about her crush, I blew Damien off when he asked me out, and I didn't actively participate in Donald's shenanigans. I was nice the rest of the time! ... although now that I wrote all of that down I sound kind of mean.

Spazzbunny

#123 by Spazzbunny - Jan 24 2011

xD I almost forgot about his hug scene. I love Damien, but I suppose that little scene just never made an impact on me. And Pastel is ridiculous. If she is obtainable in another game I can promise I'll be torn between pursuing her out of curiosity and running away in fear.

>.> Your girl does sound wee bit anti-social there. I would keep the save file though. There might be an ending in which you don't end up with anyone, and that'll be useful to have.

sweetdreams

#124 by sweetdreams - Jan 24 2011

I'm having trouble installing the game

I already installed it once but my computer got a virus from something else and I had to reformat my comp so everything was gone including the game. When I went back to the email I got after buying the game, it says the password is blocked xD does that mean I can't install it anymore

Riviera

Q

#125 by Riviera - Jan 24 2011

Spazzbunny:
xD I almost forgot about his hug scene. I love Damien, but I suppose that little scene just never made an impact on me. And Pastel is ridiculous. If she is obtainable in another game I can promise I'll be torn between pursuing her out of curiosity and running away in fear.

>.> Your girl does sound wee bit anti-social there. I would keep the save file though. There might be an ending in which you don't end up with anyone, and that'll be useful to have.

She's my little rebel! Well, except for how she became treasurer. And made nice candles. Wait a sec.

.... I didn't check the Prof. HE likes her. WHAT?! My little girl! Where did I go wrong?! [Could not load http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/crybaby.gif]

Well, I guess she'll be my experiment.

Spazzbunny

#126 by Spazzbunny - Jan 24 2011

xD Nice. That's a bit scary, though. I tried to get the Professor, but it was a super half-hearted attmept. I'm just not as interested in him as I am in the others. Have fun with that!

Also, out of curiosity, what candle combo did you use? I tried to go through some, but the snotty senior kept dissing them. D:

deb44

Re: Q

#127 by deb44 - Jan 24 2011

Riviera:
Spazzbunny:
xD I almost forgot about his hug scene. I love Damien, but I suppose that little scene just never made an impact on me. And Pastel is ridiculous. If she is obtainable in another game I can promise I'll be torn between pursuing her out of curiosity and running away in fear.

>.> Your girl does sound wee bit anti-social there. I would keep the save file though. There might be an ending in which you don't end up with anyone, and that'll be useful to have.
She's my little rebel! Well, except for how she became treasurer. And made nice candles. Wait a sec.

.... I didn't check the Prof. HE likes her. WHAT?! My little girl! Where did I go wrong?! [Could not load http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/crybaby.gif]

Well, I guess she'll be my experiment.

how did you get the Prof to like you char? i can't get him to like mine

Riviera

#128 by Riviera - Jan 24 2011

Owned up to the love letter during class. Ran for and became treasurer. Defended Donald about the fire-dragon thing and got detention. Got lots of merit points by doing work with Donald and passing all the exams (ended up with 20). Agreed with him that Potsdam just liked to confuse her students. Made up a candle combination that sold well (votives + pink + peppermint in my case). Asked about his book at the candle sale.

That's all I can think of that had anything at all to do with him...

The snotty senior will always diss your candles, I think. But with the combination I had, Minnie came up to me later and told me they'd sold really well and the Prof. told her I'd done a good job. Of course he didn't tell ME that. *huff*

Word of warning, you get five cute points for my combination. I think it's the color?

I also had my red magic as the strongest and my black magic as second strongest, but I don't know if that makes any difference? Red = 51 Black = 34

jyrayos

#129 by jyrayos - Jan 24 2011

Spiky Caterpillar:
Search for a text file called 'traceback.txt' or 'opengl.txt' (it should be in your Magical Diary directory) and post the contents.

What screen size (in pixels) are you using?

The only thing i have in the folder for Magical Diary is the program and uninstalling it. Beside that, I cannot open it because it keeps closing. The laptop i am using dell studio 1555 and the screen is 15.6'' widescreen. Not sure why it is not working

hanako

#130 by hanako - Jan 24 2011

sweetdreams:
I'm having trouble installing the game I already installed it once but my computer got a virus from something else and I had to reformat my comp so everything was gone including the game. When I went back to the email I got after buying the game, it says the password is blocked xD does that mean I can't install it anymore

The download links only work once but I can have the system send you a fresh one - is your email on the forums here the same as the one you used to buy with?

hanako

#131 by hanako - Jan 24 2011

jyrayos:
Spiky Caterpillar:
Search for a text file called 'traceback.txt' or 'opengl.txt' (it should be in your Magical Diary directory) and post the contents.

What screen size (in pixels) are you using?
The only thing i have in the folder for Magical Diary is the program and uninstalling it. Beside that, I cannot open it because it keeps closing. The laptop i am using dell studio 1555 and the screen is 15.6'' widescreen. Not sure why it is not working

The actual game directory, as opposed to the folder on the start menu, should contain:

Magical Diary (web shortcut)
MagicalDiary.exe
MagicalDiary.py
Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest
msvcr90.dll
python26.dll
README.html
unins000.dat
unins000.exe

Those files are automatically put there by the installer when you run it, if you have the game installed at all you have at least that much. If you're not seeing those files, either windows 7 is doing something VERY strange with hiding them, or you're looking in the wrong place.

I know we have some other Vista/7 users in this thread, can any of you offer suggestions? The opengl.txt file isn't created until after the program runs and, being Vista-branch, it might put it somewhere strange - any of you know where?

jyrayos

#132 by jyrayos - Jan 24 2011

hanako:
jyrayos:
Spiky Caterpillar:
Search for a text file called 'traceback.txt' or 'opengl.txt' (it should be in your Magical Diary directory) and post the contents.

What screen size (in pixels) are you using?
The only thing i have in the folder for Magical Diary is the program and uninstalling it. Beside that, I cannot open it because it keeps closing. The laptop i am using dell studio 1555 and the screen is 15.6'' widescreen. Not sure why it is not working

The actual game directory, as opposed to the folder on the start menu, should contain:

Magical Diary (web shortcut)
MagicalDiary.exe
MagicalDiary.py
Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest
msvcr90.dll
python26.dll
README.html
unins000.dat
unins000.exe

Those files are automatically put there by the installer when you run it, if you have the game installed at all you have at least that much. If you're not seeing those files, either windows 7 is doing something VERY strange with hiding them, or you're looking in the wrong place.

I know we have some other Vista/7 users in this thread, can any of you offer suggestions? The opengl.txt file isn't created until after the program runs and, being Vista-branch, it might put it somewhere strange - any of you know where?

I have search for these files on my computer but there is nothing at all beside the folder for the game. This is most frustrating for me not sure what to do. It is the first time any game does this to me.

Spiky Caterpillar

#133 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 24 2011

Redirected files should go to C:\Users\(Your_user_name)\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\(Application_name) by default.

jyrayos

#134 by jyrayos - Jan 24 2011

Okay, I found them. Thank you so much! I am serious grateful. What do I do next?

loloser77

help!

#135 by loloser77 - Jan 24 2011

i'm majorly stuck on the third dungeon :( :( :(

loloser77

#136 by loloser77 - Jan 24 2011

nevermind i got it =^)

Spiky Caterpillar

#137 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 24 2011

jyrayos:
Okay, I found them. Thank you so much! I am serious grateful. What do I do next?

Cool. Upload them using the form at http://spikycaterpillar.com/savegame-upload.html .

hanako

#138 by hanako - Jan 24 2011

jyrayos:
Okay, I found them. Thank you so much! I am serious grateful. What do I do next?

I'm emailing you a link to a new installer which MIGHT make things work differently. Don't know yet if it will actually work.

deb44

#139 by deb44 - Jan 25 2011

just did a quick run through, it was funny to see what happens if you run out health in a dungeon

Muse

#140 by Muse - Jan 25 2011

deb44:
just did a quick run through, it was funny to see what happens if you run out health in a dungeon

Hmm. Looks like I have more magic experimenting to do: I never managed that yet.

I did quite enjoy running blindly off the cliff edge in the first one though. XD

Riviera

#141 by Riviera - Jan 25 2011

I've never run out of health, either! I didn't know you could! lol

Yeah, it was a lot of fun jumping off that cliff.

"I... thought it was an illusion?"

deb44

#142 by deb44 - Jan 25 2011

you have to study alot to get high mp, otherwise you will run out of mp before you run outta health. and yes jumping off the cliff is fun!

Riviera

#143 by Riviera - Jan 26 2011

Oh, question.

How do you get Ellen to join that society? I did it once, but I forgot how to do it again. I redid that character to get her cute/weird points up and didn't stumble over the scene in that playthrough.

I'm pretty sure you have to have high friendship with her, and I specifically remember her coming over to talk to me about how she'd flunked her exam because she beat it through brains instead of magic. But that's all I really remember. [Could not load http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/animesweat.gif]

deb44

#144 by deb44 - Jan 26 2011

i think maybe u select the option that's says: that's not fair, and the she goes and yells at the prof.

but i am not sure

Riviera

#145 by Riviera - Jan 27 2011

I just haven't figured out how to trigger that scene though.

Naiomi666

#146 by Naiomi666 - Jan 27 2011

[quote="Riviera"]Oh, question.

How do you get Ellen to join that society? I did it once, but I forgot how to do it again. I redid that character to get her cute/weird points up and didn't stumble over the scene in that playthrough.

I'm pretty sure you have to have high friendship with her, and I specifically remember her coming over to talk to me about how she'd flunked her exam because she beat it through brains instead of magic. But that's all I really remember. [img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/animesweat.gif[/img][/quote]

What society? I don't think i've seen this!

Riviera

#147 by Riviera - Jan 27 2011

I think you have to have a decent friendship level with Ellen so that she asks you to her play. She'll ask you, after the play, if you think someone who hurt you should be punished or not.

If you say yes, later on, on December 3rd, you'll be walking down the hall and feel something strange. I think you have to have the spell communication (a white spell) for this to happen. Let them contact you. Sneak out at midnight to meet them.

Also while I was double checking this I figured out how to get her to join instead. Yay!

StarViella

#148 by StarViella - Jan 30 2011

Oh, I would love to do this! Unfortunately, I haven't got the money to spare yet. I'll see what I can do, though.

crazyninny

#149 by crazyninny - Jan 30 2011

Hello!

I just recently bought the game and I'm loving it! The story is easy to settle in and the character design option is a dream for me!

I'm just curious though, how far is it possible to get in the game? I've been reading the forums and I'm lost with some players that appear to be father in the game than I am. With the updater I'm right up to winter break, is there any futher dates past that?

Thanks!

deb44

#150 by deb44 - Jan 30 2011

it stops just before you leave on winter break.

Aetheria

#151 by Aetheria - Jan 31 2011

Preordered the other day, as I saw the thread on Lemmasoft and thought it looked like fun... and it is fun! Quite fun, in fact.

I noticed a few oddities:

- During Thanksgiving break, the title for Wednesday is misspelled "Wedneesday."
- On my first two playthroughs, I managed to solve the last exam once using a White Magic spell and once using a Green Magic spell (not to spoil the solution too much). The layout was the same both times. The first time, when I found the way out and went north, there was just a black space where the picture of the room ought to be. Going north again got me out of the maze and everything proceeded as normal (I think). I'm assuming that there ought to be the same stairs that you see when you solve the exam the other way?
- From reading the other posts, it seems like you're supposed to see another scene with Damien if you reschedule dinner, then get detention and don't tell him? I tried that in two different playthroughs and nothing happened - he just never shows up again.
- It struck me as a bit odd that Ellen would mention never seeing much snow, since I couldn't help but remember how much I got snowed on during my college years in Virginia... but maybe the weather's different further south. I don't think many players would notice anyway!

Riviera

#152 by Riviera - Jan 31 2011

Aetheria:
- On my first two playthroughs, I managed to solve the last exam once using a White Magic spell and once using a Green Magic spell (not to spoil the solution too much). The layout was the same both times. The first time, when I found the way out and went north, there was just a black space where the picture of the room ought to be. Going north again got me out of the maze and everything proceeded as normal (I think). I'm assuming that there ought to be the same stairs that you see when you solve the exam the other way?

Weird.. I've solved it both of those ways and haven't seen that!

- From reading the other posts, it seems like you're supposed to see another scene with Damien if you reschedule dinner, then get detention and don't tell him? I tried that in two different playthroughs and nothing happened - he just never shows up again.

I was thinking about posting this same thing. I've seen other people post about how he yells at you, but he just never shows up again for me.

- It struck me as a bit odd that Ellen would mention never seeing much snow, since I couldn't help but remember how much I got snowed on during my college years in Virginia... but maybe the weather's different further south. I don't think many players would notice anyway!

I think you just got lucky. It typically doesn't snow much in Virginia. I've lived here for about 15 years, and I think we got a lot of snow about.. five of those years? Most of the time we get a few days worth or so and that's about it. I need to move up to Canada and satisfy my snow cravings. I live in Central Virginia, though, were you in the northern areas?

hanako

#153 by hanako - Jan 31 2011

Aetheria:
- On my first two playthroughs, I managed to solve the last exam once using a White Magic spell and once using a Green Magic spell (not to spoil the solution too much). The layout was the same both times. The first time, when I found the way out and went north, there was just a black space where the picture of the room ought to be. Going north again got me out of the maze and everything proceeded as normal (I think). I'm assuming that there ought to be the same stairs that you see when you solve the exam the other way?

Do you know what version you were patched to at the time? A bug along those lines was addressed a few patches ago, but I don't know if you didn't have the fix or if the fix didn't quite work.

Spiky Caterpillar

#154 by Spiky Caterpillar - Jan 31 2011

hanako:
Aetheria:
The first time, when I found the way out and went north, there was just a black space where the picture of the room ought to be. Going north again got me out of the maze and everything proceeded as normal (I think). I'm assuming that there ought to be the same stairs that you see when you solve the exam the other way?
Do you know what version you were patched to at the time? A bug along those lines was addressed a few patches ago, but I don't know if you didn't have the fix or if the fix didn't quite work.

That particular bug should be fixed in 0.2.77 (and was only introduced in 0.2.76) - if it shows up in 0.2.77 or later, then my fix is broken and I'll need to fix the fix.

And Wedneesday and Damien failing to get mad if you ditch him twice in a row have been fixed in 0.2.80.

Aetheria

#155 by Aetheria - Jan 31 2011

Ah, I think I've figured it out - the update didn't work the first time I tried it, probably because my Internet connection is terrible and cuts out randomly a couple of times a day. That'll teach me to click the button and then wander off!

Do you have to start a new game to see the event where Damien gets mad at you? Reloading doesn't seem to make it happen.

Riviera:
I think you just got lucky. It typically doesn't snow much in Virginia. I've lived here for about 15 years, and I think we got a lot of snow about.. five of those years? Most of the time we get a few days worth or so and that's about it. I need to move up to Canada and satisfy my snow cravings. I live in Central Virginia, though, were you in the northern areas?

Yeah, my school was pretty far north, a couple of hours west of DC. So I guess you don't have to go too far to find snow?

hanako

#156 by hanako - Jan 31 2011

Probably depends on exactly where you're reloading from. I keep a savegame from the day of the Dark Dance to load from for testing that area of Damien interactions.

If you're still not seeing it, can you tell me what sequence of actions you're taking from that point on? Did you initially tell him that you needed to wait until another week, or did you accept the first weekend date and then not meet him on the day?

Aetheria

#157 by Aetheria - Feb 1 2011

Ah, reloading again seems to work. Thanks!

While reading over the diary events, I noticed that one is titled "Damian's Dilemna" - which ought to be "Dilemma," I think?

PennyFaust

#158 by PennyFaust - Feb 1 2011

Hey! I just recently bought the game and I adore it so far! Unfortunately my updater doesn't work :C I'm on Vista. The version I have is 2.76, or at least that's what it tells me. I read somewhere there's another version available to try? 2.3? If that's still available to try, I'd very much like to C:

Sorry if this was resolved somewhere and I just missed it D:

Spiky Caterpillar

#159 by Spiky Caterpillar - Feb 1 2011

What error message does it give when the updater fails? 'Exception: timeout: timed out'? Or something else?

PennyFaust

#160 by PennyFaust - Feb 1 2011

I believe it was something like that. I tried it again recently and it worked this time and allowed me to update so it must have just been my timing?

In any case, it's a great game so far! And thank you for getting back to me.

sayuri

#161 by sayuri - Feb 5 2011

Sunday, Sept 15 w/ Damien: Says "a further word, he brushes past me and away", should probably be "Without another word, he brushes past me and walks away."

I can change the speed of autoplay, but not turn it off, which is frustrating. Actually, it seems that the further up I put the slider, the slower autopsy goes, and vice versa.

Sometimes, clicking the load game tab on the game screen still continues the text and has to be clicked a second time to work.

~~~

Now that I am on the third dungeon, I'm kind of wanting a hint system

. I'll figure it out eventually but some players may give up. I think dungeon-specific hints would be too easy. Maybe if there was a hint spell that said something like "x color magic would be useful here".

My blog~

http://otomelife.blogspot.com/

Spazzbunny

#162 by Spazzbunny - Feb 5 2011

I think the only problem with a hint spell would be that there are pretty much always multiple ways to solve a puzzle. Some are more efficient than others, true, but that sometimes depends on what spells you already have. A hint spell that suggests something you haven't studied enough could be a pain, as it might only confuse you more. Plus, I'm not sure how helpful it would be once the dungeons get more and more complex. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but asking for help on the forum still seems like the simplest solution for the people having trouble. ^^;

hanako

#163 by hanako - Feb 5 2011

Oops, I forgot to make Spiky invert the slider - it's probably still using the RenPy default of controlling the autoplay delay time rather than speed which I tend to think is a bit confusing. You can turn it off during play by clicking the autoplay button or hitting 'a' but obviously the options aren't clear enough yet. Will look at them again.

There kinda-sorta is a spell that functions as a hint spell... in the second dungeon. In the third dungeon that same spell is one of the actual solutions to the puzzle. Considering the number of possible solutions I don't even know if people have found that one yet!

And don't forget, 'Give Up' is always a valid option and doesn't end the game (usually). There are occasions where losing on purpose might be what you want to do, and occasions where you have no other choice. Depending on what you've studied with your particular character build, it can be impossible to solve some particular puzzle. Unlikely unless you're intentionally making very strange builds, but some people do that!

Riviera

#164 by Riviera - Feb 5 2011

I've often suddenly freaked out a bit, thinking that since I built a certain character one way, they'd never pass dungeon number whatever.

But I've been making characters that focus on two colors, and keeping the others up at least moderately. The moderate ones have at least two spells in them, usually three.

That has been enough to get me through, so far.

Also the biggest piece of advice I can think of is to TRY EVERYTHING. I've spent all my magic just throwing spells around, then I'll reload and try it again elsewhere or against something else. I just look at the dungeons like old fashioned adventure games. Think it's utterly stupid to cast Communication on that wall? It probably is. But you never know, maybe something unexpected will happen. Stranger things have occurred.

I still can't figure out more than two solutions for each dungeon, though. Must try harder.

sayuri

#165 by sayuri - Feb 5 2011

Alright, I figured out the third dungeon finally. I don't think I was running on the latest version so did the puzzle change? When I posted I was on the version that went up to Dec 8. I think I was having trouble because I only saw one odd looking wall, and then I used every spell I had. It was much easier in the latest version.

My blog~

http://otomelife.blogspot.com/

hanako

#166 by hanako - Feb 5 2011

Hard to say without a version number, but other than a bugfix the puzzle hasn't really changed since it went in. However, dungeon 3 is randomly generated so you'll get different layouts on different attempts.

There shouldn't be a visually odd wall, though - it should be spells that you're using to get out. Picking a wall by just looking at it and deciding that's the exit and casting spells at it is not supposed to be a solution... If a wall popped up being the wrong color or something, that's a bug. What do you mean by an odd wall?

sayuri

#167 by sayuri - Feb 6 2011

It was the dead-end that was just colored differently, it wasn't a bug or anything. I was just thinking too hard about it, lol. Still, maybe some small indication of which wall is fake would help. It wasn't until I started getting desperate and casting spells in every area that I found the exit

My blog~

http://otomelife.blogspot.com/

hanako

#168 by hanako - Feb 6 2011

There are at least three spells that will lead you directly to the exit - cast one of those spells and it'll tell you which way to go next, so move that way and then cast it again.

There are several spells that can tell you if the exit is in the square you're standing in. Which does mean needing to check lots of squares.

There's a spell that can check multiple squares at a time, but not the whole dungeon at a time.

Unless you are incredibly lucky, there is no possible way to solve this dungeon without casting multiple spells - that's intended, and serves as a reminder that building up your MP so you can cast more spells can be useful. Running around casting lots of spells IS what you're supposed to do!

deb44

#169 by deb44 - Feb 6 2011

i found a way to pass the 3rd dungeon without having to cast alot of different spells.

gladi

#170 by gladi - Feb 6 2011

Bright day
Maybe we could hint thread for people having problems or wondering about alternate solutions. Frex, I know three solutions for second exam, but would be interested if other colour can do anything.

This leads me to question. Hanako, in the study session before first exam is there a "smart" check to Grabiner's question if I want to answer "red"? Or is that knowledge of physics beyond the PC?

hanako

#171 by hanako - Feb 6 2011

When the game is complete there should definitely be separate hint threads for each dungeon - I was avoiding doing so for now in order to keep the number of threads limited while we're at pre-release status so that if things CHANGE there's fewer places with old information to clean up.

*shrug* If you guys really want to make separate dungeon hint threads now I guess you can, we'll just need to check them later to be sure they're still accurate. Discussing the actual solutions you've found will probably help debug anyway.

Hanako, in the study session before first exam is there a "smart" check to Grabiner's question if I want to answer "red"?

Yes.

Aetheria

#172 by Aetheria - Feb 8 2011

I just updated to 0.2.82.3, and noticed that the sound effects (the chime after gaining points, the Christmas break music) play even when the volume is turned all the way down. Changing the "effects" volume doesn't seem to change anything about how loud the sound effects are. I didn't have the volume turned all the way down before, but they seem louder than my volume setting before the update...

Ellume

#173 by Ellume - Feb 10 2011

Well, I'm impressed. I'm already planning to purchase the later games in this series. Many thanks for making this game

What would be the easiest way to find out about updates on the game? I would rather be notified about updates or it be mentioned on the forum instead of having to check the game updater randomly.

hanako

#174 by hanako - Feb 10 2011

Major updates will be posted here. We've just been very slow lately because I had to go away for a week, and the second semester needed to be entirely scripted out before any writing could be done to make sure all the timing worked, and the next dungeon (now being written) contains the first active monster which therefore needs a LOT of new code, and also the artist is still drawing it.

Once that's up things should move faster, at least until we hit dungeon five!

Ellume

#175 by Ellume - Feb 10 2011

Good to know, thanks.

Also I'm just wondering about the length of the story. We never had proms at my school and that seems to be one of the near ending events. Does that mean the dance at the end of the year? or the end of the third year, aka graduation type?

hanako

#176 by hanako - Feb 13 2011

Since 'Prom' wasn't entirely accurate anyway, I've adjusted the note on the webpage. It's a May Day event.

Dungeon 4 is now playable in beta, although some effects are still missing, and the code currently stops right afterwards.

deb44

#177 by deb44 - Feb 13 2011

fun dungeon. it was funny that i got detention the first time

Ellume

#178 by Ellume - Feb 14 2011

hanako:
Since 'Prom' wasn't entirely accurate anyway, I've adjusted the note on the webpage. It's a May Day event.

Well there goes my hopes of a 3 year long game xD But this a great game ^_^

hanako:
Dungeon 4 is now playable in beta, although some effects are still missing, and the code currently stops right afterwards.

Cool, but I will have to wait till this weekend now till I can get on my own computer to play it. Looking forward to see what it is

deb44

#179 by deb44 - Feb 15 2011

i keep getting a trace back error at the event in the gym on jan 13

Spiky Caterpillar

#180 by Spiky Caterpillar - Feb 15 2011

KeyError: 'path' crashes should be fixed by 0.3.3 (currently available if you turn alpha patches on.)

Riviera

#181 by Riviera - Feb 15 2011

Personally am still wondering who all the five (is it still five?) dateables are.

I think I know, but I'm doing the wait-and-see in case one of them turns out to be someone I haven't seen yet.

I'm trying to literally beat the snot out of the monster in the most current dungeon, but I don't think I did my character build right, and that makes the RPGer in me sad.

Is there a way to effect the chances of winning in bingo, short of somehow getting a spell that lets you cheat? If that's even possible? None of my characters have won yet, although I have noticed that the first number he calls has been different each time.

hanako

#182 by hanako - Feb 15 2011

Is there a way to affect the chances of winning in bingo, short of somehow getting a spell that lets you cheat? If that's even possible? None of my characters have won yet, although I have noticed that the first number he calls has been different each time.

The number is random and so is your chance of winning. Gambling - not a reliable way of making money!

On the other hand, the odds of winning are a lot better here than they are for grabbing the bunny, I've had it happen more than once during testing.

stopthepresses

#183 by stopthepresses - Feb 15 2011

My script stops completely on January 10 right after the dungeon. I updated to version 0.3.3, which should go five more days if I'm reading correctly.

I run Windows XP, if that's relevant.

hanako

#184 by hanako - Feb 15 2011

as I asked the last person with a problem like that - did you save your game on that day when using an older version that only went that far?

If an event had a 'game end' in it earlier, then when you load a saved game it might be loading the old version of that event, still stored in your saved game.

It is always a good idea to back up a little bit when a new patch comes out, so that any changes to the last spot you played through have a chance to load from the new files.

Try loading a saved game from January 9 or earlier and see if you still have problems?

Spiky Caterpillar

#185 by Spiky Caterpillar - Feb 15 2011

If anyone has a save from January 9th or earlier that doesn't let you progress past the 10th, upload it to http://spikycaterpillar.com/savegame-upload.html (and post or PM me so I'll know it's there).

Riviera

#186 by Riviera - Feb 16 2011

Huh. Started a fresh new game (just cuz) and when I got to the second dungeon, I turned around and took one step and the game crashed.

Already uploaded the traceback.

Version 0.3.3

Out of curiosity, how is the rollback system supposed to work? I keep thinking it's supposed to bring you back before the error, so you can either keep playing or choose something else, but I've never had it do that. Whenever I click rollback, it completely crashes my game to the desktop.

I casted stoneshape at the walls in the monster dungeon, and it didn't take any magic points from me. Was this intended? It was technically a fail, but she did cast it.. ?

I casted fracture at the walls in the monster dungeon and got another crash. That traceback's been uploaded, too. Ummm. Well, she is mostly black-magic based.. so I was trying whatever option I could think of.

Also, random babblings:

Grabby got the New Hope reference? HA! Nerd!

I still haven't figured out a way to earn enough money to get those special cupcakes.

Also... holy crap those must be some vacations! I had 95 stress when thanksgiving vacation started and it went to zero! I was trying to see what would happen if I bottomed her out... sigh. Everything is working against me.

hanako

#187 by hanako - Feb 16 2011

Riviera:
Out of curiosity, how is the rollback system supposed to work? I keep thinking it's supposed to bring you back before the error, so you can either keep playing or choose something else, but I've never had it do that. Whenever I click rollback, it completely crashes my game to the desktop.

It's supposed to let you back up as if you'd rolled back normally if possible, but depending on HOW the game crashed it doesn't always work. Particularly deep crashes or crashes outside of normal dialog are fairly likely to produce a complete collapse. (Also, if you roll back and then go forward again to the same traceback, it tends to give up and just crash.)

If you choose 'roll back' after uploading the traceback, you'll need to continue rolling back manually to get past the upload status.

At least for me, if I go and get the fracture traceback you mentioned and immediately click roll back, it puts me back at the list of targets to cast my spell at.

Riviera

#188 by Riviera - Feb 16 2011

Yeah, I just tried it for the fracture one and it did work there. It probably is only certain ones...

I have to say. I love these glasses.

[Could not load http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/Cylana/pimpin.png]

deb44

#189 by deb44 - Feb 17 2011

frederic09

#190 by frederic09 - Feb 17 2011

i have a little question. Is boys & girls separated when they are doing their magic classes ?

hanako

#191 by hanako - Feb 17 2011

No - there are a couple events early on where you can see boys in classes with you. (There aren't too many events during class because it's so VERY variable what classes at what level you might be taking at any time.)

frederic09

#192 by frederic09 - Feb 17 2011

okay, then there's a little minor typo ;)

It's when Mrs Postdam says in french "Coucou mes chéries" in the beginning in one of her lessons.

She should say "Coucou mes chéris".

Well it's only because of the presence of the boys you have to remove the "e". If the classroom was full of girls then the sentance was right.

madeofwhin

#193 by madeofwhin - Feb 18 2011

Er, hey everybody! First off, I want to say the game is awesome.

Second, I tried to run the updater today. I entered the code, and it said the updater would start up, but it never did. I clicked the screen, and the game restarted, but there was no update. I tried this again several more times, and it didn't work. I'm on an Acer laptop, windows.

Spiky Caterpillar

#194 by Spiky Caterpillar - Feb 18 2011

Thanks!

What versions of Magical Diary and Windows do you have? It'll show you the Magical Diary version(s) on the update screen.

Ellume

#195 by Ellume - Feb 18 2011

Out of curiosity, when you're in the restaurant with Grabiner is there a smart check if you ask about his book?

hanako

#196 by hanako - Feb 19 2011

At the moment, no. That subject seems too obscure for HorsePC even if she's clever.

Ellume

#197 by Ellume - Feb 19 2011

Ahh, alright. I was thinking that instead of going "what's that mean?" she could be something like "So something about different fossil opinions?". Not necessarily know it, just be able to get the most basic idea. The rest of the convo would go the same, but maybe he would think a little more highly of the PC. Have a high smart req like 40-50. I think it would be cool, but Grabiner is probably my fav character ^_^ Regardless it works

hanako

#198 by hanako - Feb 25 2011

The day isn't complete yet so I'm not bumping the date position thread, but there's a fairly substantial update in place for treasurer characters on Jan 25th.

Riviera

#199 by Riviera - Feb 25 2011

Just tried out the update.

My mind has been blown.

Ellume

#200 by Ellume - Feb 25 2011

Ahahahaha! Awesome is all I have to say to that update

deb44

#201 by deb44 - Feb 25 2011

i LOVE that update

J_Yum1978

#202 by J_Yum1978 - Feb 25 2011

I had to uninstall the game, and I've tried reinstalling but its telling me that my password got expired. Could send me a new password? Do I need to contact BMT Mirco? In case, here is the e-mail address when I purchased the game. [email address removed]

crazyninny

#203 by crazyninny - Feb 25 2011

I did not see this event coming.

Do have to say that the dress was really pretty. Will be be able to put it on later or do we have to wait for another special event to wear it again?

britmarwell12

#204 by britmarwell12 - Feb 25 2011

BWAHAHAHAHA! I laughed so hard at that event! And you're right, the dress is pretty.

Ah, I love it!

selenity136

#205 by selenity136 - Feb 26 2011

The fangirl in me squeal, though I wasn't able to put on the dress

, but I sent the traceback to the thingy.

Is this really for reals or all just for lolz to the prof. fans?

Aetheria

#206 by Aetheria - Feb 26 2011

Ah, this reminds me of many happy hours spent reading goofy fanfics... it's just the sort of thing that would happen!

Riviera

#207 by Riviera - Feb 26 2011

selenity136:
The fangirl in me squeal, though I wasn't able to put on the dress , but I sent the traceback to the thingy.

Is this really for reals or all just for lolz to the prof. fans?

I get the feeling it's for real.

For a year, at least.

selenity136

#208 by selenity136 - Feb 26 2011

Riviera:
selenity136:
The fangirl in me squeal, though I wasn't able to put on the dress , but I sent the traceback to the thingy.

Is this really for reals or all just for lolz to the prof. fans?
I get the feeling it's for real.

For a year, at least.

I finally saw the rest of the event and I have to squeal in happiness

. though I have to feel bad for the MC at the harshness from the Prof. This has pretty much became my favorite scene!!

perch

#209 by perch - Feb 27 2011

I loved the new scene. So far I've got saves for three different people and I know of at least two more romance paths. This is such a great game and addicting.

hanako

#210 by hanako - Feb 27 2011

J_Yum1978:
I had to uninstall the game, and I've tried reinstalling but its telling me that my password got expired. Could send me a new password? Do I need to contact BMT Mirco?

I've sent a fresh download link to your registered address. It's a good idea to back up the installers in case you need to reinstall though, it saves time.

(Since I'm sometimes away for a day or two and thus can't fix things right away.)

Spazzbunny

#211 by Spazzbunny - Feb 27 2011

The new scene is pretty cute, I have to say. ^^ Moreso than anything though, I'm curious as to how this will change events in the future. I'm lso curious as to if we will ever see Grabby smile. He's an awfully gruff person.

hanako

#212 by hanako - Mar 4 2011

I think we've now FINALLY got all the various different date possibilities for Jan 25th working. Most of the scenes are short, it's just that there were a lot of them! Now to deal with the aftermaths on Sunday...

ladysasuke

#213 by ladysasuke - Mar 4 2011

Hanako, how many schools yrs are in the game? I originally thought it was 4 you know, freshmen, junior, sophmore, and then senior, but i've seen only 2 freshman and senior with 3 houses each. Does this mean when the games finished, it'll only be 2yrs long or will junior and sophmore levels be added. Will they get 3 seperate houses as well so they'll be 12 in total. Will the spells you learn during that school yr be different than earlier spells since it is more advanced setting with harder classes? I thought each yr got their own 3 houses. Will there be more options eventually added to character creation to make it more personable.

hanako

#214 by hanako - Mar 4 2011

The game is only intended to be one year long; your existing character will not be carried over into a later game. Once you reach May, that character's story is complete.

But I can't give absolute concrete answers on that kind of thing because it would be years in the future before I could work on them. Horse Hall itself is already a LONG game with more text in it than any of my other visual novels, and it's still months from completion, and then there are all the other halls to write about. It's possible I'd get sick of doing freshmen and decide to set one of the hall stories in a later year. Assuming that the series sells well enough to continue. I can never make promises about things that aren't in development yet!

Each of the existing six halls covers all four years, but you're largely interacting with people your own age, plus a few seniors because of Initiation. Kyo is a Wolf Hall sophomore though, and there are some other in-between characters that I have notes on who might show up eventually. There are a lot more students in the school than we have time to see onscreen!

hanako

#215 by hanako - Mar 19 2011

The February 7th exam should now be playable in beta, with a short scene afterwards (if you don't see the scene after, back up to a slightly earlier save).

sayuri

#216 by sayuri - Mar 20 2011

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

AttributeError: 'BlueSpell' object has no attribute 'defer_casting_cost'

While running game code:

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

  File "/Applications/MagicalDiary-0.2.22.5-mac/MagicalDiary.app/Contents/Resources/autorun/renpy/bootstrap.py", line 270, in bootstrap
  File "/Applications/MagicalDiary-0.2.22.5-mac/MagicalDiary.app/Contents/Resources/autorun/renpy/main.py", line 382, in main
  File "/Applications/MagicalDiary-0.2.22.5-mac/MagicalDiary.app/Contents/Resources/autorun/renpy/main.py", line 170, in run
AttributeError: 'BlueSpell' object has no attribute 'defer_casting_cost'

While running game code:

Ren'Py Version: Ren'Py 6.11.2b

When I tried to teleport the doors.

My blog~

http://otomelife.blogspot.com/

Spiky Caterpillar

#217 by Spiky Caterpillar - Mar 20 2011

That should be fixed now.

Elze

#218 by Elze - Mar 20 2011

I encountered this when I received the present from the Rose and Wasps society and was reading the paper.

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'set_type'

While running game code:

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

File "/Users/elzeeng/Desktop/MagicalDiaryMacAlpha/MagicalDiary-0.2.22.5-mac/MagicalDiary.app/Contents/Resources/autorun/renpy/bootstrap.py", line 270, in bootstrap
File "/Users/elzeeng/Desktop/MagicalDiaryMacAlpha/MagicalDiary-0.2.22.5-mac/MagicalDiary.app/Contents/Resources/autorun/renpy/main.py", line 382, in main
File "/Users/elzeeng/Desktop/MagicalDiaryMacAlpha/MagicalDiary-0.2.22.5-mac/MagicalDiary.app/Contents/Resources/autorun/renpy/main.py", line 170, in run
AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'set_type'

While running game code:

Ren'Py Version: Ren'Py 6.11.2b

hanako

#219 by hanako - Mar 21 2011

Check which version you're running and run the updater if necessary, the Mac installer is a bit out of date.

Aetheria

#220 by Aetheria - Mar 21 2011

In the latest dungeon, I discovered that I can push the chest past the sealed doors... that doesn't seem like it should work.

hanako

#221 by hanako - Mar 21 2011

... oops!

gladi

#222 by gladi - Mar 21 2011

Soo... any plans for quicksave/quickload key bindings? My mouse would really appreciate, the savescumming is pretty hard on it...

DMGnome

#223 by DMGnome - Mar 22 2011

The computer I had this on kind of exploded. Not literally, but close to it. How can I re-download?

hanako

#224 by hanako - Mar 22 2011

I've sent a new download link to your registered email.

DMGnome

#225 by DMGnome - Mar 22 2011

Thank you!

summers1989

#226 by summers1989 - Mar 22 2011

I am afraid that I have run into a bug during the second dungeon in version 0.3.40

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

TypeError: cannot concatenate 'str' and 'NoneType' objects

While running game code:

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

File "C:\Program Files\Magical Diary - Horse Hall\renpy\bootstrap.py", line 270, in bootstrap
File "C:\Program Files\Magical Diary - Horse Hall\renpy\main.py", line 382, in main
File "C:\Program Files\Magical Diary - Horse Hall\renpy\main.py", line 170, in run
TypeError: cannot concatenate 'str' and 'NoneType' objects

While running game code:

Ren'Py Version: Ren'Py 6.11.2b

I have repeatedly ran into this bug ever since I upgraded to version 0.3.40 and continues to persist after upgrading to 0.3.41.4. It has become impossible for me to get past the second dungeon because of this error.

hanako

#227 by hanako - Mar 22 2011

When you get mostly blank tracebacks outside the game like that, the traceback is lacking most of the information we need to find the problem, so you need to provide as much detail as possible. (This is a bug in the traceback system - 'Upload Traceback' is the right thing to do when it's available because it will give the full set of information.)

Are you creating a new character and playing through to dungeon 2? Are you loading an old savedgame and trying to play dungeon2? When exactly does this error message come up? What were the last several things you did right before that? What operating system are you using?

summers1989

#228 by summers1989 - Mar 22 2011

The error is no longer occuring, so I am sorry for wasting your time. However, this might happen again so I was wondering if there was a way to copy/paste the error codes that tend to manifest on the actual game rather than the copy from notepad. The code I posted was a notepad version, and I do not mean to offend you, but the codes from notepad are apparently of little help.

Spiky Caterpillar

#229 by Spiky Caterpillar - Mar 22 2011

Alpha 0.3.42 (only visible in the updater if you enable both 'show beta versions' and 'show alpha versions') should fix the crash entering the exam2 dungeon and the crash cancelling Sphere-pushing. (It also changes the way pushing in general is handled, so there might be new bugs creeping in there...)

The crash in the exam2 dungeon was caused by me forgetting to initialize the regeneration timer in dungeon entrance - I'd remembered to reset it when loading savegames, so everything *seemed* to be working fine when I was testing.

You can also get around it by saving just before entering the dungeon, then loading that save.

The 'upload traceback' button will send me the correct traceback most of the time (and I see a few for the exam2 entrance, so I'm guessing you sent some). Notepad showing different tracebacks than the ones visible ingame is ALSO a bug that I need to try to fix, though.

Quicksave/quickload may happen at some point - no guarantees, though. Any preference on what keys should trigger it? ('S' is already taken for screenshots, though.)

gladi

#230 by gladi - Mar 22 2011

Spiky Caterpillar:
Quicksave/quickload may happen at some point - no guarantees, though. Any preference on what keys should trigger it? ('S' is already taken for screenshots, though.)

Not really. Hmm, some function buttons, but not adjacent to each other. I have just been playing a game with such interface and internet cannot contain tales of my rage at hitting the wrong button.

hanako

#231 by hanako - Mar 22 2011

The error is no longer occuring, so I am sorry for wasting your time. However, this might happen again so I was wondering if there was a way to copy/paste the error codes that tend to manifest on the actual game rather than the copy from notepad.

Don't worry, you're not wasting our time. Sometimes we can guess even if the traceback isn't complete.

And even if things only happen once in a while, it's useful for us to know about them, in case we can find the problem.

As best I understand, what happens most of the time is that if you see the big long traceback inside the game and hit upload traceback, we should get all the information and it will be fine. But if you've seen the big traceback and roll back and then later get a big traceback again, the game crashes and you get the short-form traceback which doesn't have much information in it. (Spiky's working on that, as you see.)

Traceback uploading is the special feature we put into the game to make it easy to send error reports without having to stop and go to the forums or email all the time, see. But since it's a new feature sometimes it has its own little problems.

Sometimes if the game crashes badly enough it just goes straight to a short-form traceback, which is frustrating because it's harder to track down the problem. When in doubt, provide as much information as possible.

Ellume

#232 by Ellume - Mar 25 2011

After making all the code, art, general school timeline, etc for this game I can imagine the sequels will be infinitely easier and faster to make. Especially if you have more freshman main characters and can reuse the dungeons. Or even if you make new dungeons, you already have the code/spells ironed out. You were mainly thinking of the other characters being either freshmen or senior, correct? I think I remember someone mentioning that, not sure how official it was though. I'm curious to see how a senior main character would start out, as they should know a lot of spells at that time, and be already quite specialized. I guess it would be part of the character creation.

hanako

#233 by hanako - Mar 25 2011

The idea of maybe doing an upperclassman sometime is potentially interesting, but I don't have any solid plans for it. Especially considering a lot of details about the setting, some of which have been hinted at and some of which haven't... it would be tricky. It would probably be sophomores, not seniors.

Partly that vague thought is there because I have less motivation when it comes to writing the male freshmen, at the moment. I have a very strong idea of where the storyline for Wolf PC will go. I have reasonably good ideas of where the Butterfly and Snake stories would go. I don't actually have any ideas right now for Falcon and Toad. In particular, I don't have an idea of how the relationships within the hall (roommates, etc) would work out.

However, the existing freshmen in those halls haven't been onscreen much (in one Toad's case, you guys don't even know his name yet, because I kept changing my mind, so in his one appearance he's only described as 'Boy') and I may grow more attached to them later on as I work with them more.

Ellume

#234 by Ellume - Mar 25 2011

Are you already set on doing the Wolf next? Or is there the possibility you may do one of the others? Although it doesn't matter too much to me, I think I am most anticipating the Snake and Toad, just because they seem the most.. unique. I also like both Suki and Balthasar lol.

Do all the rooms have 3 roommates? Or do some have 2 or even just someone alone? If someone was alone I would assume it because of special circumstances. Perhaps in one of the games you could have a roommate as be fairly antagonistic? That would likely give some story content.

hanako

#235 by hanako - Mar 25 2011

Are you already set on doing the Wolf next? Or is there the possibility you may do one of the others?

Nothing is set in stone until it actually happens.

I am reasonably sure I will do the Wolf next, because of the way that storyline interacts with the end of the Horse plotlines. I can't really say much about that at this point.

Most likely I will do Wolf next and either I will have become filled with enthusiasm and rush off to the next story (which would logically be Butterfly) or I will take a poll on where to go after that.

Do all the rooms have 3 roommates? Or do some have 2 or even just someone alone? If someone was alone I would assume it because of special circumstances.

Hmm, I wonder what mysterious reason I might have for quoting this bit while talking about the Wolf PC...

deb44

#236 by deb44 - Mar 28 2011

i updated the game and reloded my file, it's where you pick the valintine cards for ppl, but then i get xxx

hanako

#237 by hanako - Mar 28 2011

if you saved your game too close to where the cutoff point is then the game may still have the end-of-game in memory and not load the new version of the scene that continues.

it's generally a good idea NOT to save right where the game runs out of script, but to save a day or two back and run through events again when there's new text.

sweetdreams

#238 by sweetdreams - Mar 31 2011

so I remember reading somewhere this chapter will end in in the month of may or was it march? does that mean it's close to completion? btw how many endings are there?

hanako

#239 by hanako - Mar 31 2011

It will end at the beginning of May, so only a couple of months to go.

Also, Spiky says some people are getting tracebacks for something that happens because he changed the coding on buying valentines and they had saves after that point - if you've been having problems lately it's a good idea to back up a bit.

Elze

#240 by Elze - Mar 31 2011

hanako:
Also, Spiky says some people are getting tracebacks for something that happens because he changed the coding on buying valentines and they had saves after that point - if you've been having problems lately it's a good idea to back up a bit.

Crappp. I'd just overwritten all my game files to the weekend after Valentine's. oAo

hanako

#241 by hanako - Mar 31 2011

Well, if you got that far and you're not tracebacking you might not be having the problem?

It depends on whether you got past a certain point (and saved there) before something else was changed a few patches back.

I'm not even sure exactly what the issue is, I never saw it myself, but he said some people have been sending in the same traceback repeatedly which has to do with this. New patches aren't going to fix that because the problem is in the old save, not the game as-is.

This IS an alpha! We've mostly managed to avoid having to start over from scratch (except for the Cute/Weird points thing) but keeping backup points is still a good idea.

Elze

#242 by Elze - Mar 31 2011

I'm not sure. Will check later. ;A; -crosses fingers-
I started out with backups. Then I overwrite my backups when I start new games that have better management of stats. And then shit happens and I lose track of what's what due to bad titling. So I ended up only have one file per route lol.

It's ok. If the files are gone I'll just replay the routes. Good thing there's the skipping dialogue option.

gladi

#243 by gladi - Apr 4 2011

Is there any reason to attend classes on subject once you max out? Is there any difference to having maxed a skill on your own or with use of items? Is there something good if I max all magic skills?

hanako

#244 by hanako - Apr 4 2011

There are sometimes events that happen in specific classes, and when new spells get added to the game you have to attend class in order to unlock them. (I don't expect much in the way of new spells in the future, but it's not impossible while we're still in development.)

Relatedly if you get an item that brings you up to max level in a color, you won't get the spells associated with that unless you attend the class.

At the moment there's no real difference, other than that you might lose or remove the item (and lose access to some spells if you do. That's not well-tested yet, and you might want to try it! Spells should be still in your spellbook but uncastable if your skill level drops below the requirement.)

hanako

#245 by hanako - Apr 4 2011

Chunk of files to download in the newest beta, relating to an important event happening in Damien's path... (Which may well crash for people. It's new!)

hanako

#246 by hanako - Apr 10 2011

After the most recent update (to March 12) there's probably going to be some delay because, as mentioned in that update, there's an exam coming.

Ellume

#247 by Ellume - Apr 11 2011

I always look forward to another exam update ^_^

sweetdreams

#248 by sweetdreams - Apr 14 2011

btw will there be a special scene after we get all the trophies? or are they just there for 'display'

hanako

#249 by hanako - Apr 14 2011

dunno, haven't really dealt with the trophies much at this point, the code's pretty much placeholder.

at the very least the trophy display will get an update eventually so that the list of them looks nicer, it's just not a priority at the moment.

Muse

#250 by Muse - Apr 22 2011

I believe I found a small typo. Sorry, I'd submit a save but I forgot how. >>

Anyway, I think there are spaces missing on this line around the 'n':
Donald:
"Logan is doing this thing, and he asked me'n'Luke to round people up for it."

Also, if you accept, Mary Sue calls Logan Luke in a later line. I wasn't sure if they are twins or something (and it was in a scene I didn't get?), or if she just doesn't know them well enough to tell them apart?

hanako

#251 by hanako - Apr 22 2011

Stylistic choice there - I'm leaving out spaces to show that he's slurring the names together quite quickly, such that it might actually take the listener a second to realise what he really said rather than it being one weird word.

Luke and Logan are twins, yes, but as they're not major characters in this game that scene is the first time the player might realise that. (Mary Sue, of course, has always known!)

Sorry things are still moving slowly, the current dungeon is more complicated than expected. I have a backlog of scenes written though so when we finally do release a new beta there will suddenly be a huge rush of stuff.

I'm also tending to be short on good ways to earn Cute and Weird points. I don't want to simply offer choices that aren't connected to events ("Would you like, for absolutely no reason, to go out and act cute/weird in public?" is rather bleh), but many of the events I'm writing at the moment are too related to inter-character drama to give good opportunities... If anyone sees events within the second semester where they think an option for more cute/weird would make sense, feel free to make suggestions. I'm not sure it's going to be at all possible to max those stats out without me adding more random stuff.

Ellume

#252 by Ellume - Apr 22 2011

The events where people ask for the main character's opinion on stuff might be a place you could fit in options that get you cute/weird points.

Having the option to go out randomly and do something weird may be a way to gain weird points lol, because that is pretty weird in itself. Like playing imaginary games while walking in the hall coming back from class for something to do. Maybe feeling stiff/bored while studying so decide to go do some kind of exercise with one option being kinda weird.

In a similar idea of doing something out boredom or the desire to do something different from the routine the main character could choose an activity to do and then try to find someone to do it with. So far there are several events where other characters invite Mary Sue to do stuff with them, but Mary Sue rarely comes up with things to invite others to do with her. Could just be stuff like go have a snowball fight, walk around outside, sit and play a game, or snoop around using Spirit Sight to see what you can find (because I probably would do that just to see what I could find lol even if I don't go talk with the stuff). You could have either an activity that others consider weird or Mary's opinion/actions during the activity might give the others the idea that she is cute/weird. This is a fairly involved option to try do, but may be a bit easier to do earlier on in the story?

Well that's all I have off the top of my head. Hopefully it helps in some way. If I think of something else I will let you know.

hanako

#253 by hanako - Apr 22 2011

Having the option to go out randomly and do something weird may be a way to gain weird points lol, because that is pretty weird in itself.

It's a balance issue in my mind. If she has the option to suddenly go out and do something weird, unconnected to any event, then she should have that option all the time, shouldn't she? But of course she can't have that option all the time, because that would be boring and make all the other much-harder-to-find weird points feel pointless. So it needs to be connected to something... some kind of reaction to things that are already happening.

Studying while under high stress is a specific situation that might allow for a weird option, though.

Ellume

#254 by Ellume - Apr 22 2011

hanako:
Studying while under high stress is a specific situation that might allow for a weird option, though.

Stress over having demerits, stress over relationship confusion, stress over treasurer duties.

Also cute can be a bit abstract too, getting stressed while studying and flopping down on your desk with loud sign might even be viewed as cute to some

Hmm. Mary's reaction to a letter from her family. Reaction to coming across something that strongly reminds her of her former life, maybe in the mall. Reaction to a spirit mini-event. Asking a question in class that is prompted by when a prof does one of there little class talks. Just trying to brainstorm a few ideas

Muse

#255 by Muse - Apr 23 2011

hanako:
Having the option to go out randomly and do something weird may be a way to gain weird points lol, because that is pretty weird in itself.
It's a balance issue in my mind. If she has the option to suddenly go out and do something weird, unconnected to any event, then she should have that option all the time, shouldn't she? But of course she can't have that option all the time, because that would be boring and make all the other much-harder-to-find weird points feel pointless. So it needs to be connected to something... some kind of reaction to things that are already happening.

Studying while under high stress is a specific situation that might allow for a weird option, though.

For weird, maybe when you get to pick things like candle scents (if this isn't all ready implemented) you can do ones with wasabi or rotten fish scents, and make have a "freehand" option perhaps (like turning them into eyeballs and frog shapes, etc). I can't remember if there was anything like that all ready, but it's an idea.

So far I haven't mad too much trouble getting cute, though. Less than the others but not as few as weird is.

I suppose another idea is on the Christmas event you can choose a "reply" to the person you connect with. But then again it would change some of it, like, the heartwarming options could be cute, and you can also choose to do stuff like think "frogs are cool".

Anyway, just some ideas of mine to toss out there.

sweetdreams

#256 by sweetdreams - Apr 23 2011

Ellume:
hanako:
Studying while under high stress is a specific situation that might allow for a weird option, though.
Stress over having demerits, stress over relationship confusion, stress over treasurer duties.

Also cute can be a bit abstract too, getting stressed while studying and flopping down on your desk with loud sign might even be viewed as cute to some

yes! cute is very varied depending on what happens

like even daydreaming during class and her chin resting in her palm could also be seen as cute though it can also get demerits

but aside from that this next dungeon must be quite hard as y'all are working so hard on it

and can't wait till the festival! There is a festival in game soon or some big event soon right? if I remember :S

junsei7

#257 by junsei7 - Apr 23 2011

This is my first time posting, so sorry if I do it wrong! (Such a Luddite!)

But on the subject of cute/weird points - I've just started playing through again to try to hunt out any scenes I may have missed and places to get those very points. Like I said, only just started being super thorough so am only in the early weeks, but...

Early on, I think there are places where Virginia, in particular, thinks you're weird but doesn't seem to affect your weird score? For instance, choosing Grabiner over William and I think throwing away the pie after opening the box?

For cute points, on the whole I've found these slightly easier to find and I can't think of an already existing action where Mary Sue should get them and doesn't. There may be a chance at the end of orientation party - with a choice of comments when trying to play nice between Damien and the roommates?

I'll keep a lookout as I go through the later weeks, though.

PS - Am loving this game almost wrong amounts.

sweetdreams

#258 by sweetdreams - Apr 24 2011

btw I have a question about merits? what's the highest number of merits we can get and what happens after we get full merits?

Riviera

#259 by Riviera - Apr 24 2011

The highest amount is 50.

Maybe you'll get some kind of award at the end of the school year? Nothing that noticeable has popped up for my character yet.

Except for something that happened with Donald, since she was on his path:

She told Donald she could vouch for him because she had high merits.

That might happen as long as you don't have a really low number though.

hanako

#260 by hanako - Apr 25 2011

OKAY!!

We are FINALLY putting the next dungeon into beta.

There are still bugs. Please report them. But it should be playable and winnable (and losable).

As you will see, it's not necessarily the hardest thing in the world, but there are a LOT OF POSSIBILITIES IN THERE!!!

A large number of spells that have so far done nothing had to be implemented for this exam, which is part of why it's taken so long. There are still a few spells that would be potentially useful that haven't been put in yet - we're getting there, but we thought it was about time to let people into what's available.

Also, a (green) spell that was accidentally left out of the learnable spell list is now available, so if you do have 100 green it's worth taking another green class to get the missing piece.

Ellume

#261 by Ellume - Apr 26 2011

Woo, that is a fun dungeon.

Probably a bug: My opponent was Pushing me in the direction of the exit which helped me to win lol. I was using the spell Forewarned late in the dungeon and sometimes it would say he was Pushing me in a specific direction and sometimes it said he was Pushing me Away. When he pushed me "Away" it turned out to be in the direction of the exit. The time he pushed me in a specific direction it was in the opposite direction from the exit.

Also I thought it was kinda weird when I cast sleep on my opponent. It told me he was asleep, and then he cast his spell. I assume it was just how the spells resolved at the same time, but the order of the messages made it seem like the spell didn't have an effect.

Looking good but I've only played the dungeon once so that is all I have to say so far.

Riviera

#262 by Riviera - Apr 26 2011

It WAS an interesting dungeon! I didn't realize you could have so much... banter, with the opponent. I dunno, I guess I was thinking of him/her as a magical construct even though it's obviously a person.

hanako

#263 by hanako - Apr 26 2011

Latest patch should now have Empathy working on the Hooded Figure (I had forgotten to add emotions for him)

hanako

#264 by hanako - Apr 28 2011

Major plot update in beta.

I expect there may be some screaming.

Please do scream, just do it in spoiler text.

Spazzbunny

#265 by Spazzbunny - Apr 29 2011

....It frustrates me so much right now that my computer has a virus and won't be fixed until at least tomorrow. D:<

machnist

#266 by machnist - Apr 29 2011

omgg can't wait to see what happens next!

Riviera

#267 by Riviera - Apr 29 2011

... *screams*

*gestures*

Heck of an update.

*faints*

Ellume

#268 by Ellume - Apr 29 2011

... Honestly I can't say I'm surprised. Likely would have been if I hadn't explored so many of the possibilities early game though. Looking forward to see how other people react hehe

sweetdreams

#269 by sweetdreams - Apr 29 2011

eeek what's happening!? that was sudden O_O didn't see that one coming...haha great update though can't wait to see what happens next

but just a question...does taking someone's soul mean that person dies?AND AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN THROUGH WITH HIM, HE DARES TO TELL ME IT'S ALL A JOKE!!! I hope he gets what he deserves... and I assume 'going along with it was the best choice out of the two even though it took down some of my stats and increased my stress?

well anyway next up is donald's concert!! btw does it matter wht choice we make to help out with the play?

junsei7

#270 by junsei7 - Apr 29 2011

So excited by the update. I figured something along those lines might happen - but not that extreme! Can't wait to see what happens next...

Cerberusia

#271 by Cerberusia - Apr 30 2011

My feelings on this matter, summed up: !!!!!!!

Looking back, it's not completely out of the blue - the way he reacts when you've agreed to go out with him but accidentally got married to Grabby in the meantime, for instance - but it's still a hell of a shock.

...I still want a happy ending, though. But how do you get to a happy ending from THIS?

perch

#272 by perch - Apr 30 2011

When I first played the new content I thought the big event was kissing or rejecting Pastel and her magic mist and I was excited because ooh Pastel developments, which crashed my game because that toon is married and even the game was outraged at my Sue kissing her.

Then I played it on one of my other Sue's and got the Damien drama and holy cow! That was so great. Damien started as my favorite character (love the 'bad boy' stereotype) and then I started getting annoyed at him and his behavior until he was just about my least favorite of the five and then bam! Outright betrayal.

Great stuff.

Riviera

#273 by Riviera - Apr 30 2011

I feel better now that I know I'm not the only one who swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

I figured I was just being my usual naive self.

sweetdreams

#274 by sweetdreams - May 1 2011

Cerberusia:
My feelings on this matter, summed up: !!!!!!!

Looking back, it's not completely out of the blue - the way he reacts when you've agreed to go out with him but accidentally got married to Grabby in the meantime, for instance - but it's still a hell of a shock.

...I still want a happy ending, though. But how do you get to a happy ending from THIS?

I agree with the last part! I can see no good ending from this! even if he does come back, I doubt and hope that mary sue will not fall so easily back into his arms...I mean come one, everything that happened in the past was just a lie!? I would be hurt xD so I will let him have a bit of rejection first before I go back to him

perch

#275 by perch - May 2 2011

*blinks*

I just finished the latest alpha stuff and OMG! Finally I feel like my Sue's hard work with Virginia is paying off! And I'm really interested and apprehensive with where the Ellen arc is going on her path. That girl really is too smart and stubborn for her own good.

madeofwhin

#276 by madeofwhin - May 2 2011

So I couldn't manage to fix the updater problem, so I decided to try and re-install the game... Only to find out, after I uninstalled, that my password for downloading had expired.

*headdesk*

I have the receipt and everything, so is it possible I might get a new password?

hanako

#277 by hanako - May 2 2011

email me your receipt and I can have the system generate a new download link for you.

However, depending on when you first installed the game, you may need to do some manual cleanup work before you can install a new version. Go to where the game was originally installed and make sure ALL files are deleted. Otherwise, if you run the installer over what's left of the other version you can end up with files from multiple versions on your machine at the same time and the game goes "Buh?" and gives up in confusion.

sweetdreams

#278 by sweetdreams - May 3 2011

since it's almost nearing may in the game and thus graduation, how many more dungeons will there be? one or two or more? :S

hanako

#279 by hanako - May 3 2011

Only one more exam.

We may do an all-dungeon expansion sometime later for fun, though - if spiky decides it's worth the hair-tearing!

(It would be not related to the plot, just Fun With Dungeons. Although you could imagine it was a summer extra credit project)

junsei7

#280 by junsei7 - May 3 2011

hanako:
Only one more exam.

We may do an all-dungeon expansion sometime later for fun, though - if spiky decides it's worth the hair-tearing! (It would be not related to the plot, just Fun With Dungeons. Although you could imagine it was a summer extra credit project)

Fun - I would totally play that! I do love the dungeons! Fingers crossed Spiky has enough hair...

Bombermans

#281 by Bombermans - May 4 2011

I also love the dungeons!

It would be awesome if, in other halls (like, for example, wolf hall), you were able to beat extra dungeons for merits or demerits. It could even include a plotline.

About the kiss scene with Damien... am I the only one who thinks it was a little... forced?

I mean, the <character> says "Yes, please, kiss me!" at the begining of her first date, when she has just arrived to the beach. What if she wanted to wait until the end of the date? What if she didn't even want to kiss him?

The player was able to say "I don't feel that way about us" , when Damien asks the character to be his girlfriend. Then Damien says that he can change that feelings. If the player chose that 'path', I don't think the main character would have said "Kiss me, please!" at the begining of their date. I saw it like... forced... not natural.

I think it would be better if the player could decide about that. for example, at the end of the date, or even to reject the offer. The game even 'rewards' you with a trophy after been kissed, but you weren't able to decide about it!

hanako

#282 by hanako - May 4 2011

That trophy is for you-the-player first reaching a kiss, ANY kiss, on any path. Yes, if you've gotten that far on Damien's path that particular smooch happens automatically, but you had to make various decisions to get there in the first place - you're not guaranteed a kiss on your first game playthrough.

ladysasuke

#283 by ladysasuke - May 5 2011

Has anyone else got competely through a path. I'm just wondering since i'm on Damien's path, I'm not sure though if his path is over after the 'incident'

selenity136

#284 by selenity136 - May 5 2011

Mr. Grumpy is still going =/. So is Donald's I believe. I don't know about the others though.

perch

#285 by perch - May 5 2011

I don't think any of their paths are going to be over until the very end just because of twists and turns.

Virginia's is in a good place to have 'ended' since her major plot point has been resolved.

Ellen not so much since you're supposed to wait for the dance and there's the current intrigues she's not telling you about.

Donald is kind of being annoying at the moment. Definitely haven't resolved him yet. *shakes tiny fist of rage at latest update* One day Donald my Sue will pin you down!

Grabiner definitely has one more key event just to get on his romance path and I'm super excited for it.

Damien doesn't feel resolved either. Even if you said no to him I don't feel like he's going to give up and I really feel like there's more there if you did say yes and used either the love or hate options. Though it seems hinted in another thread by WoG (Hanako) that we have to track him down.

I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with Pastel and if she's done and how Minniie's path is going to be concluded.

Also slightly off topic did any one else wish that if you'd been dating Damien and then gotten married to Grabiner that there still would have been an attempt to kidnap you? I loved that he tried to kidnap my Sue on my Ellen path, but holy hell would it have been amazing to have seen Grabiner flip his lid if Damien had pulled that stunt with his wife.

junsei7

#286 by junsei7 - May 5 2011

perch:
Also slightly off topic did any one else wish that if you'd been dating Damien and then gotten married to Grabiner that there still would have been an attempt to kidnap you? I loved that he tried to kidnap my Sue on my Ellen path, but holy hell would it have been amazing to have seen Grabiner flip his lid if Damien had pulled that stunt with his wife.

I hadn't thought of that - that would be awesome! But I got the impression that whatever Damien was trying to do wouldn't work with the married Sue. But I have such a strong metal image from your post of a crazy protective Grabiner! Thank you!

perch

#287 by perch - May 5 2011

Ah you're right junsei7 I forgot about the magical oath a Sue is under when she marries Grabiner. None of Damien's schemes would have probably worked.

Still I could wish right? I guess that's what fanfic is for all my wish fulfillment desires.

Spazzbunny

#288 by Spazzbunny - May 7 2011

Now that my computer is back up and running, I've finally played through what is finished of Damien and Donald's paths! xD After the latest development though, am I the only one who thinks Damien is kind of similar Alvaro from the Otomate game, Wand of Fortune? Try googling him if you don't know him (4shiki has a blog post on the game). The similarities are kind of amusing...

summers1989

#289 by summers1989 - May 7 2011

perch:
Ah you're right junsei7 I forgot about the magical oath a Sue is under when she marries Grabiner. None of Damien's schemes would have probably worked.

Still I could wish right? I guess that's what fanfic is for all my wish fulfillment desires.

Actually if you refuse to pursue a relationship with Damien, there's no way that he would know. So, you could still have Damien kidnap her and he's so angry, he doesn't realize that she's married until he tries to take her soul. Then you could have this whole scene where she's saved and we find out how Damien would be able to tell that she's married and why he couldn't take her soul because of it. So such a scene would still be possible.

sweetdreams

#290 by sweetdreams - May 8 2011

well one thing is for sure, we won't be seeing Damien for a long damn time

perch

#291 by perch - May 8 2011

@sweetdreams

I wonder. Hanako mentioned in one thread (sorry can't remember which one) about Damien that we would have to go look for him. I wonder if that will involve using that pocket knife he can give you if you compare his teeth to knives in the love letter. Plus the stone he made for you after Christmas or maybe he left behind that board game he got from a friend. He does say that the knife from his childhood so it might hold a clue in hunting him down. Or it was just one more lie in his web.

Question for everyone about the arcade and the claw machine. Does anyone know if you're able to win a bunny for yourself out of the claw machine or if you can only get it by asking Big Steve for help?

While I enjoy Big Steve's scene a whole lot if I give him the rabbit, I also really like the cute bonus it gives if my Sue keeps it. And I've tried raising my Smart/Strong/Blue/Black/Green to try and get it myself, but I don't know if it's possible and/or what stats I need to beat it.

gladi

#292 by gladi - May 8 2011

Merits
In my last playthrough I very quickly maxed out my merits. And it then seems so wastefull watching all additional merits fall through cracks... Maybe five all those ten merit rewards are not necessary?

hanako

#293 by hanako - May 8 2011

Beta now includes some advancements involving Minnie's and Professor Grabiner's storylines.

Married characters should be able to tell by the end of the 8th whether romance is a possibility or not.

(As for merits - difficulty when you've played the game many times and know where to get points from and how to pass exams is obviously quite different from difficulty on your first go!)

perch

#294 by perch - May 8 2011

About merits. That is very true. I managed to get my Sue expelled three times in my first four attempts at the game. I am terrible at a lot of the dungeons. *shifty eyes*

Elze

#295 by Elze - May 9 2011

Grabiner scared the shit out of me in the recent update. ;_; Even though he's my favorite character, I think I'd only be able to date someone like that in a VN. Irl I'll be out of the door in a milli second. D: & yay I think my Sue's successful!

& I can't wait to see what kind of revenge is going to take place with the Minnie path xD

Elze

#296 by Elze - May 9 2011

perch:
About merits. That is very true. I managed to get my Sue expelled three times in my first four attempts at the game. I am terrible at a lot of the dungeons. *shifty eyes*

I didn't know you can get expelled mid-game. O_O How many merits did you have?

perch

#297 by perch - May 9 2011

@Elze

-50 merits is all you need to get expelled. It's not that hard if you're really terrible at the dungeons (I mean anime heroine level of lack of direction sense) and screw up in secondary aspects.

Basically you can get to -45 by the end of October if you fail both -15 dungeons, get -10 from Grabby, -10 from Potsdam, -10 from the arcade, + 10 from helping Donald & -10 from the Dark Dance. There's also a chance you can get into trouble from Virginia, but I can't remember if that gives you demerits. If it does expelled by Halloween.

If not, yet you have an awful relationship with Grabiner, but manage to pass some exams you can still mess up if you don't have Donald to help you counteract some demerits and mess up during the snow day. That event can give you -5 or -10 demerits.

TL;DR Be horrible at exams and make consistently poor choices and you can be out by December, October if you don't take Donald's help.

And you can also hunt a couple of trophies that get you expelled really early in the game.

The only one that ever really frustrated me was when I was on my first Donald attempt and I got expelled during a key moment when Donald and Luke take your Sue into the dungeons. Mine had -45 merits and got kicked out before Grabiner could apologize and take them back, which was super annoying because my Sue had spent so much in-game time pursuing Donald and then gone.

frederic09

#298 by frederic09 - May 9 2011

Elze:
Grabiner scared the shit out of me in the recent update. ;_; Even though he's my favorite character, I think I'd only be able to date someone like that in a VN. Irl I'll be out of the door in a milli second. D: & yay I think my Sue's successful!

Yeah, i found that very strange. And the way she accepted the excuses the next day... well it was wierd.

I wonder if Mary has a Princess Sarah side. She's hurted but still smiling.

And if one day i'll meet a girl like her, i won't know if i'll cry or laugh.

Silence is more of the Unknown than the world could tell.

hanako

#299 by hanako - May 14 2011

There was a minor error in Damien's path. A scene (which was optional and not necessarily important in any way) taking place at the beginning of April was accidentally left out earlier. As of 0.3.83.2 it's in place.

Completionists on Damien's path might want to back up a little before going forward to the new confrontation.

Or not. It's not necessarily relevant.

sweetdreams

#300 by sweetdreams - May 14 2011

that scene just made the difference

anyways I have a question, will the graduation be the last thing we see? it would be good to get a little bit of what happens to each couple in the future or to mary sue if she's alone...maybe not drawings but just a few words describing what happens a few years later since mary sue will still be in the school but her potential partners might have left already...

junsei7

#301 by junsei7 - May 14 2011

perch:

And you can also hunt a couple of trophies that get you expelled really early in the game.

You've no idea how this sentence has been bugging me! I've tried to solve it on my own, but... I've got Truant (and obviously Expelled), but what other early ones are there? I've got various maxed out skill ones and the Kiss, marriage, secret society, but they all take a bit of work to get to so they aren't the ones you're talking about. Please help!

Cerberusia

#302 by Cerberusia - May 14 2011

Ugh, I'm having considerable trouble with Virginia's path: I can get onto the friendship, but I can't get my Weird points high enough for a romantic relationship. Help on raising my Weird stat/anything else I'm doing wrong, please?

Spazzbunny

#303 by Spazzbunny - May 14 2011

Weird points aren't that hard to stack up if you know where you're going. If you have your first class ever with Ellen, there's a chance for weird points. Kyo has at least one scene (I can't remember about the later ones) in which you can get weird points. Studying can yield and opportunityt o get some more points. Then there are a few instances in which you can get weird points from being with Virginia herself. The main ones I can think of are when she asks you about different styles and when you go shopping with her. Hitting these events should definitely put you over the amount needed to get onto her romantic path.

junsei7

#304 by junsei7 - May 14 2011

Refusing initiation week and certain choices when running for election also helps rack up the weird. (Although you have to make sure you're not elected for Virginia, I think)

Cerberusia

#305 by Cerberusia - May 14 2011

I'll try some of these out - thank you very much!

perch

#306 by perch - May 14 2011

@junsei7

You've got a lot of the same ones I have for trophies as for endings I've found three different ones so far for the beginning.

MAJOR SPOILERS!

Do nothing but sleep your first week. Then sleep your second week. You get a trophy and a unique ending.

Do nothing but take gym class. No trophy, but you get a unique ending when Potsdam comes to give out exam schedules. You can also do this with studying. It gets the same ending.

Get expelled by October for demerits. You get a third unique ending and a trophy.

There are trophies for each color you get to 100 as well as hitting 100 with Strong and Smart. I assume there are ones for Cute and Weird but I haven't gotten them yet. Then there is Kissed, Been Married, Secret Society which you've gotten. There's also one for letting your stress get too high which can happen within the first few weeks if you just don't rest.

There's also Bunny! that's a bit harder to get, but really rewarding and has fun little mini events later on that don't seem to affect any romance paths. I just stumbled over it so I'll give some hints. It requires multiple trips to the arcade for pinball, the claw machine and being at the arcade during an early school event. It should be attainable within the first couple of months in-game.

Otherwise I'm missing three at the top and Cute/Weird. Have you managed to get any of them?

junsei7

#307 by junsei7 - May 15 2011

@perch re MAJOR SPOILERS

Thanks for your help!

I got Bunny the other day thanks to your post about an extra Big Steve scene! It is SO cute! Thank you - I don't think I'd have found it otherwise. I felt so guilty the first time I cheated at the claw machine I didn't do it with any of my other Sues and stayed away from the arcade!

I managed to max out everything but my cute and weird. I haven't tried too hard with the weird yet, but I have been noting where to find them - I'm sure I'd be nowhere near 100. The highest Cute I've got is 85. Even if I then added the bunny to that I don't hit 100. I don't know if I'm missing places to get points or if they aren't there yet. I do remember Hanako posting about needing to put more in.

EDIT: I got 100 Cute but no trophy. (See next post)

But that leaves three, as you say. I assume at least one will be achieved by ending the game?

junsei7

#308 by junsei7 - May 15 2011

Quick question - is there a trophy for cute/weird? I managed to get 100 Cute, but no trophy. I had hoped it was one of my missing ones...

hanako

#309 by hanako - May 15 2011

There SHOULD be but it hasn't been properly tested yet.

The trophy stuff really isn't done yet. I'm not even sure what the whole list currently on the page is, I'm pretty sure there are trophies that aren't on that list, and the display desperately needs an overhaul. It's just low on the priority list of fixes at the moment.

junsei7

#310 by junsei7 - May 15 2011

Thanks for the reply, Hanako! I was just curious - the completionist in me gets fixated on empty spaces in a trophy cabinet.

My bad.

Riviera

#311 by Riviera - May 15 2011

Helllllp! I tried to get the Bunny! trophy... but... even though I went and played pinball every weekend, I got nothing. Do you alternate every weekend? Does it have to do with Big Steve or can you win it yourself through a really lucky shot?

perch

#312 by perch - May 15 2011

@Riviera

More detailed explanation/hints:

It does have to do with Big Steve. You need to play pinball a couple of times. Then you have some wiggle room. You can play the claw machine if you can manipulate it or wait a bit if you're trying to run for class treasurer. Then there's a certain event where you need to go to the arcade and play pinball. Hint: It's an event freshmen can't participate in. After that do the claw machine event if you haven't. Otherwise next time you go to the arcade there should be an additional option.

WickedDeadly

Random

#313 by WickedDeadly - May 16 2011

This might be a bit off topic, but does anyone else dislike Potsdam?

Riviera

#314 by Riviera - May 16 2011

Finally got it in February... lol.

I don't dislike Potsdam. She's kinda flaky, but she is serious when it matters and has definitely been in control of the situation when it got bad quite a few times across the characters I've played.

hanako

#315 by hanako - May 16 2011

New update gets us ALMOST to the end - for reference, the update is mostly Damien stuff, although there are other things in there.

There will be a pause here for a few days, because a) I'm traveling and will not be at computer to write and b) The big end-of-game events are probably best done together, so we may need to get a lot crammed in there before we can update again. Since the con is OMG ALMOST HERE we will be racing the clock to get to the ending next week (or week after next depending on how you define weeks).

Spazzbunny

#316 by Spazzbunny - May 16 2011

xD Damien is threatening to overtake Donald as my favorite with his ridiculous-ness. Though I must say, I'm kind of disappointed with Ellen and Virginia in this update. I'm not shocked, but still disappointed. I suppose this really is the melodramatic route.

sweetdreams

#317 by sweetdreams - May 16 2011

*sigh* my like for damien has never diminished...even I felt betrayed when mary sue was betrayed...tore my heart

but now he's back to being my number one with donald being number two and old grabby as number three!! woot!!! the ending is coming soon!!have a good trip hanako!!

perch

#318 by perch - May 16 2011

Donald is still my favorite, followed by Grabiner, but Damien has edged back up to third. I don't know but both Ellen and Virginia can be frustrating, both to pursue and to just have as roommates.

I get where they are coming from on the Damien path, but I still just want to clunk their heads together. It'll be an interesting final exam on that path, with two roommates who have utterly rejected my Sue.

I waffle between disliking Potsdam and not. I get that she wants to let the students grow, but sometimes I think she's intentionally evasive with Wildseeds, despite past incidents where lack of information ruined a potentially brilliant students life like Musette.

I have the most annoyance for Minnie. I don't think she's intentionally being malicious, but I do feel like she has zero problems with messing with another students life or withholding information if it means that it will draw attention away from her relationship problems, but doing it in a way that allows her to get away with it because she's just been spread so thin.

I don't know, I wish I liked more of the female characters. I enjoy Pastel and look forward to finishing the game and having everything implemented so I can hunt for scenes and see if she's a possible side/minor path. I also enjoy Suki, she's that little bit of crazy I'm rather fond of from the Snake/Toad kids, but she's barely in it just like Raven. Isobel is meant to be a mentoring big sister/information source and Angela is meant to be disliked.

Though the fact that just about every character with more than one line of dialog feels like a different and unique character in the story makes even the personally frustrating characters interesting. It's nice to know that I can go through any single romance path and get a completely different experience each time and that the minor and side characters have interesting stories. Makes me want to keep replaying just to hunt down all the tidbits about this character or that.

junsei7

#319 by junsei7 - May 16 2011

perch:
Though the fact that just about every character with more than one line of dialog feels like a different and unique character in the story makes even the personally frustrating characters interesting. It's nice to know that I can go through any single romance path and get a completely different experience each time and that the minor and side characters have interesting stories. Makes me want to keep replaying just to hunt down all the tidbits about this character or that.

I absolutely agree with this. The other characters make it feel like a proper world and not just a world with 5-6 people in it with some other human shaped scenery. It completely affects the replayability of the game for me. I know I have a tendency to turn into an ending hunter and get sick of the journey by the last ones, but there are a lot of sidebars you can go down here that make each journey different and surprising and fun.

(Also echo the love of Suki!)

sweetdreams

#320 by sweetdreams - May 16 2011

damn virginia and ellen, it is not my fault I'm in 'love' with damien xD love is not something that can be comprehended! and great xD now I can't have damien on my arm at the ball...I wonder how this will turn out xD

hanako

#321 by hanako - May 25 2011

*exhausted collapse*

I don't normally mention alphas, but due to current circumstances I should probably say that MOST of the endgame is now playable in alpha, other than the very very end where you actually get your ending stuff. And since we're racing the clock to get this on disc in two days, it is probably a good idea for those who are brave enough to venture into alpha code to have a look.

sweetdreams

#322 by sweetdreams - May 25 2011

amazing!!! wow!!!

great wonderful magnificent job hanako

well after this game is released you can rest all you want hehe

perch

#323 by perch - May 25 2011

I want to be brave! I can't get the alpha to download for me. It's blued out on my desktop. I will instead wait (im)patiently for the beta.

Good luck with all the prep work to the finish line!

hanako

#324 by hanako - May 25 2011

Blued out?

There's no technical difference in downloading alphas and betas; if you're having trouble downloading it now you'll probably still have trouble downloading it when it gets bumped. (Unless it's just a temporary network hiccup which resolves itself in the meantim.)

selenity136

#325 by selenity136 - May 25 2011

I don't know if I should post this in here or the bugs report, but there's a small typo.

Begins from "No one is dancing yet. Every guest is alone with...."

you mistyped "their".

Just letting you know.

Edit: Also on Donald's path, the "going to dance" scene repeats after Yearbook.

Cerberusia

#326 by Cerberusia - May 25 2011

In fact, that repeats on all paths after Yearbook. The 'eir' is intentional, though - remember the bit where Potsdam explains pronouns?

hanako

#327 by hanako - May 25 2011

yeah, we haven't done the yearbook yet so everything breaks at that point

Also iirc the dance couple-photos aren't in place yet.

perch

#328 by perch - May 25 2011

It started happening to me right after the Damien returns bit. Every time I try to upgrade on my desktop (running Windows Vista) I can grab the betas fine, but the alphas are a pale blue and it won't let me update.

So I tested it on my laptop (running windows 7) and I am able to get all the updates including up to the latest alpha.

I must have messed something up all those other times I was hanging out in Alpha when I shouldn't have been. Hopefully when it reaches beta I'll be able to play through my saves. Otherwise I'm not sure how to import/export saves or else I'd just move mine from my desktop over to the laptop.

At this point I'm not overly worried and am waiting on it getting passed to the beta portion.

sweetdreams

#329 by sweetdreams - May 26 2011

does anything happen if we refuse to abide by damien's request to talk to postdam? he still appears and bites me no matter what xD

hanako

#330 by hanako - May 26 2011

He appears on the night of the dance if you either pleaded with Potsdam OR you wore his ring. If you ignore both, he doesn't come.

perch

#331 by perch - May 26 2011

Yay it's all in beta!

*pops champagne*

Congrats Hanako and Spiky! Did you make it in time for your con?

sweetdreams

#332 by sweetdreams - May 26 2011

so the game is now complete? aww I wanted more

I loved it so much

I wanted to find out more...it left me hanging xD

umm there's just something I just noticed...the photo of donald and mary sue dancing, my mary sue is wearing fairy wings and it covers his face xD looks sort of odd

hanako

#333 by hanako - May 26 2011

umm there's just something I just noticed...the photo of donald and mary sue dancing, my mary sue is wearing fairy wings and it covers his face xD looks sort of odd

Because of the rush there will probably be some more tweaks and fixes to the late game scenes coming in later patches, but we can't add anything more for a week or so because it's convention time.

So, yeah, please DO post things like that and we will get around to fixing it in future updates.

Similarly, we haven't had time to get the online yearbook working the way we want it to. That should be up next month and will let you share the results you get at the ending and compare characters with each other.

Then at some point I will post polls about who should be romanceable options for Wolf PC.

There are a LOT of secrets that still haven't come out yet...

perch

#334 by perch - May 26 2011

Has anyone managed to find out who set fire to the door?

Cerberusia

#335 by Cerberusia - May 26 2011

RE who set fire to the door - It was Kyo, wasn't it? Through the Rose and Wasp, because he was jealous of Jacob getting Minnie's attention? Although what I'd mainly like to know is whether there's a way to trick him into confessing, as it seemed there would be.

perch

#336 by perch - May 26 2011

@Cerberusia

That's what I figured too, but he doesn't confess. I really wanted him to, to be sure it was him and not some freak accident or joke gone wrong. Then again I don't know how great the Rose and Wasp is for revenge purposes. Have you ever used them to get revenge on Damien? It's not a pretty result.

Cerberusia

#337 by Cerberusia - May 26 2011

@perch

Ooh, no I haven't. What happens?

ladysasuke

#338 by ladysasuke - May 26 2011

Great update Hanako. I finished Donald's path which was so cute and I loved my ending. I can't wait for the next PC and I hope to have more exams like the last one and to keep the old spells and keeping adding more as you go.

britmarwell12

#339 by britmarwell12 - May 26 2011

O.O That ending!
The ending where she loses her powers for speaking to Damien.... Are we ever going to figure out if she gets her powers back or anything?! I wanna know!

Rozelliee

#340 by Rozelliee - May 27 2011

Just finished beating the game on all my Sues, and I really loved all the endings! Some of it seemed rushed, but since Hanako says that's gonna change later I'm not really worried.

perch

#341 by perch - May 28 2011

@Cerberusia

Sorry didn't see your response. Basically Rose and Wasp will get William to intercept Damien at the meeting place. You don't get to see it, but you hear about the fight and it's pretty nasty what happens to both of them.

Cerberusia

#342 by Cerberusia - May 28 2011

@perch Ooh, I'll have to take a look!

Benazir

#343 by Benazir - May 31 2011

I just finished my first playthrough tonight ... with Damien. Wow he's so unpredictable, full of surprises!
And I love MD, it's really great, interesting and fascinating game!Thank you!

Spazzbunny

#344 by Spazzbunny - Jun 3 2011

So after a few different tries at doing things, I'm a bit disappointed that there aren't two different 'good' ends for Damien (at least that I can find). It seems to me like there are two distinct ways you can go after him: by demanding his trust, or by fawning over him, for lack of a better phrasing. It seems like, since these different options come up so much, that they should lead to different endings. Everything I've tried though, just gets the same one. T.T Sad day.

Otherwise, I love all of the endings. I especially love Donald now. He's just too sweet, regardless of what path you're on.

perch

#345 by perch - Jun 3 2011

@spazzbunny

I can think of three different endings for Damien (that feature the end of the game) and two kind-of text endings (being alone or revenge). They're all pretty bittersweet though and none of them are really related to whether or not you were trying to be his friend or fawning on him.

I always thought each romance option had more of a Good, Neutral/Friendship or Bad ending vibe personally though I haven't found them all if that is how it was done. I'm not sure if there is that dynamic for each character and Word-of-Hanako hasn't come down yet with just how many endings there are.

hanako

#346 by hanako - Jun 3 2011

That's partly because I don't know how to define an ending in order to count them.

For example, on Ellen's path it is possible to convince her to come home with you for the summer. But that doesn't lead to a Game Over screen or anything, even though it clearly changes the future for the two of you. You'll get a different yearbook signature - does that make it a different ending?

If you read the yearbook signatures carefully (And I should test it to be sure this one comes up right) in a certain set of circumstances you'll get a special note that suggests you and Pastel might get together over the summer. But it's subtle and easily missed. Is that an ending?

perch

#347 by perch - Jun 3 2011

I can only speak for me. Usually if you've got a special text I count those, like when my Sue gets expelled. As for yearbook endings I do count all the romantic ones that we get, such as completing someone's romance path as a special and unique ending because my Sue did it, she got with her partner of choice and had a special ending.

The two ones you described I would consider an ending, the same as the yearbook entries I receive if I use the Rose and Wasp for revenge against Damien or what happens post Summer School trophy (which can also be the Pastel ending if I have found the text you've mentioned, which I think I did) because even though I don't get a fancy text telling me 'oh by the way you do this and X happens' I can't imagine my Sue not having an eventful summer.

So I kind of see them as three separate things. There are the 'true' endings which are the good or neutral romance paths or being alone. There are the text endings which tell you what happens to your Sue post game and then there are the Yearbook endings which hint at what happens, but you as the player get to fill in the blanks for yourself. Those yearbook endings don't have to be exclusively on their own however. They can be blended into regular endings or occur before a text ending so I guess they're more just side filler.

So I guess they could also fit into those 'brief flings' or 'last-minute-hook-ups' too. Like Pastel, is completely a Yearbook last minute hook up. It's implied/stated in text that Sue and she will hook up, but it could have just as easily translated in the game as 'Man I don't have anyone to go to the dance with, oh Pastel made out with me let me go ask her' and depending on what happened/skills she rejects or accepts your Sue. Or Big Steve is a weird, torrid relationship between your Sue and a stuffed rabbit could end at Easter, or it could have carried out into a scene where your Sue asked Mr. Hoppity and friend out to the dance if the appropriate amount of scenes/combo of skills were achieved. For me not having hook up scenes doesn't change the idea that I had a weird, if brief, relationship with Steve because my Sue was nice to him or that my Sue can fall into Pastel's finely painted clutches if X and Y events happen just so.

Spazzbunny

#348 by Spazzbunny - Jun 4 2011

xD Well, I have gotten the other two endings with him already. I just felt it strange because, usually, in games like this, if there is a consistent and distinct way of dealing with someone, it'll change the ending or at least the scenes involved. I didn't notice much of either with Damien. I'll go through it again though just to make sure I didn't miss something by accident. I wasn't necessarily speaking of a distinctly seperate ending so much as something that shows that the game acknowledges that you're treating a character in a different manner.

It does sound as though counting the endings would be difficult. For me, I suppose there are the set endings that have distinctly different dialogue, and then there are variations you can get with the endings. Well...good luck if you try doing that, Hanako! ^^

hanako

#349 by hanako - Jun 4 2011

I just felt it strange because, usually, in games like this, if there is a consistent and distinct way of dealing with someone, it'll change the ending or at least the scenes involved. I didn't notice much of either with Damien. I'll go through it again though just to make sure I didn't miss something by accident. I wasn't necessarily speaking of a distinctly seperate ending so much as something that shows that the game acknowledges that you're treating a character in a different manner.

I understand why you'd think that, but the reason I'm not handling it that way has to do with Damien himself and the way that he's different from a normal love interest.

Hanako Games